


Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

by Halliwell19



Series: Historical Romances and Where to Find Them [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
Genre: Ben is Evie, Chewbacca is Mad Dog Mcguire, F/M, Family, Happy Ending, Inaccurate Chinese culture, Major Character Injury, Minor Character Death, Mummies, Poe is Jonathan, Rey is Rick, Reylo - Freeform, Smut, Strained Relationships, The author took LOTS of liberties with this story, The kids have grown up, The kids have relationships, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Unplanned Pregnancy, Violence, terracotta army
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:20:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 34,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24306583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halliwell19/pseuds/Halliwell19
Summary: A Mummy 3 AU.It's been thirteen years since Rey and Ben put Imhotep to rest for the last time and things have been quite boring since their retirement from espionage. Alex has dropped out of school to venture to China in hopes of making a name for himself while Padme has suddenly distanced herself from her family as well. Things have been strained for the Solo family till they come together to defeat a new mummy whom has risen from the Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Can they stop him before he lays waste to the Earth?
Relationships: Alex Solo/Lin Ming, Kylo Ren/Rey, Padme Solo/Anakin Amidala, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Historical Romances and Where to Find Them [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1710550
Comments: 42
Kudos: 22





	1. China- 2748 IC

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to say thank you thank you thank you to every one who has read and commented on this series. Your continued support has been phenomenal!

Long ago, a mythic battle between good and evil played out in Ancient China. The country was torn by civil war, with many kingdoms struggling for land and power. But one king had a ruthless ambition to make himself emperor by the sword.

The other rulers hired assassins to kill the King before he could conquer them all, but none prevailed. On a night in which one of these failed attempts occurred, the King stabbed his opponents and then ordered his men to begin their attack upon the country. 

Kingdom by Kingdom, his army swept away everything in its path, and anyone who resisted met a terrible fate. He scorched the towns and lands, leaving nothing for those he captured. The country was his. He was now Emperor of All Under Heaven.

Those he conquered whom were his enemies, he enslaved and forced them to build his Great Wall. When they were dead or useless, he had them buried beneath it so their souls would be trapped and tortured for all eternity. 

The Emperor’s mystics taught him mastery over the five elements; fire, water, earth, wood and metal. His power seemed without limit. He was master of millions, but like the lowliest peasant, he could not stop growing old. He summoned his must trusted friend and head general of his army, General Ming, to confide in.

“I have too much to do for one lifetime.” The Emperor told his friend. He needed to defeat his last enemy, death itself.

One day, news came of a powerful witch who was rumored to know the secret to eternal life. He ordered General Ming to find her. The General searched the vast country till he came upon a small mountain town. At the top of the stone steps, he entered a humble home and began looking around before he was meet with a sword in his face.

The witch was named Zi Yuan, and she was nothing like the General expected. Taken by her beauty, General Ming bowed to her and explained his purpose upon his intrusion. Zi Yuan agreed to follow the General back to the capital to meet with the Emperor.

“You’re Majesty," Zi Yuan said as she bowed before the Emperor.

“Rise up,” the Emperor commanded. Upon the sight of Zi Yuan, the Emperor was overcome with lust for the woman. He had never seen such beauty in all his conquest.

Keeping her eyes down cast, Zi Yuan said, “I do not possess the secret of immortality, my Lord, but I know where to find it.”

“General,” the Emperor said turning to address Ming. He lowered his voice to a whisper and said in the General’s ear with a smirk on his face, “No man is to touch her. She is mine.”

That afternoon, General Ming and Zi Yuan took off from the Emperor’s palace to Monastery of Turfan. It was far on the western border, but there was housed the greatest library in the ancient world. Zi Yuan was sure the secret to eternal life was here.

Her and the General spent many days searching through scrolls for the answer that he Emperor sought. As they pursed the knowledge, their feelings for one another grew into a love that they knew would be forbidden. In the daylight, they shared heated glances and small touches as their love took root.

One day, Zi Yuan pulled a box from one of the shelves to reveal a wooden block. General Ming studied it for awhile before realizing the pattern on the table matched that of the shape of the wooden block. “It’s a key” he said to her as he pushed it into the top of the table. The hole he made fit the key perfectly. General Ming turned the key to reveal a secret compartment in the middle of the table that housed a very large, bound book. It was the long-lost oracle bones, a collection of all the mystical secrets of the ancient world. The Emperor’s answer was here along with other magic beyond imagining.

Completely enchanted by his resourcefulness, cunning mind, and kindness, Zi Yuan invited the General to her chamber that night, of which they shared a passion that rivaled beyond true love. But the Emperor’s spies were everywhere. They knew they should have fled, but the General was an honorable man and so they returned to the capital and to the Emperor the next day.

Zi Yuan presented the oracle to the Emperor. He was very pleased, “You have served me well. I will grant you anything you desire.”

Holding her hands so that she could keep them from shaking she said with a confidence she did not entirely feel, “I want to spend the rest of my life with General Ming.”

“Of Course.” The Emperor replied, “Read.”

Zi Yuan opened the oracle and began casting the incantation in Sanskrit, an ancient language that the Emperor did not understand.

Smirking, the Emperor said, “I feel your spell working. I am now immortal.” He gestured for her to follow him out on the balcony.

“Come, I have to show you something.” The Emperor said.

Zi Yuan looked down in the court yard and saw thousands of soldiers were lined up throughout its entirety. In the center, General Ming stood chained to horses as the animals walked off in four different directions. She gasped at the revelation that General Ming, the man she loved, was to be sentenced to death and in such a cruel manner.

“Become my Queen and I will let him live.” The Emperor proposed.

From the court yard, the General shouted to Zi Yuan, “Do what he says! Save yourself!”

Zi Yuan looked from her lover to the man she had just made immortal, “You will never keep your word.” She said with hate in her tone. This man was selfish and vile. He would take all he wanted and leave a path of destruction behind.

The Emperor looked at her before smiling and giving a slight chuckle, “You are right.” With the wave of his hand he ordered General Ming’s execution.

Zi Yuan watched as General Ming was torn apart, but then she was suddenly grabbed by the Emperor. She struggled to escape his grasp and was stabbed in the side by his signature dagger.

“Now, join General Ming in hell.” The Emperor said without remorse. A dark liquid began leaking from his eyes, as the Emperor felt something changing about his body. He scratched at his face trying to stop the liquid, but it was no use as the curse was running through his veins.

Zi Yuan grabbed the oracle, the dagger still in her side, as she tried to run from the palace.

“What did you do to me?” the Emperor cursed at her.

“I cursed you and your army.” Zi Yuan said as she ran down the stairs and stole a horse. She left the Emperor and his army to their fate.

Suddenly, the Emperor was pouring clay out of his body, as the liquid completely encompassed him. Fire self-combusted on the Emperor as the clay hardened and turned him to stone. His army was soon met with the same punishment as their ruthless Emperor. 

The curse must never be lifted or the Emperor will rise and enslave all of mankind. On that dark day, there will be nothing and no one to save us. 


	2. Oxford- 1946

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We catch up with our favorite twins and get a brief peek at what life was like for them after the end of the last story. 
> 
> Now keep in mind, Padme's Anakin is not based off Anakin Skywalker.... I just couldn't come up with a name I really liked and I just went ahead and named her new lover Anakin. We are going with the cannon that Ben doesn't know his true lineage and he thinks his grandfather's name is Bail Organa. 
> 
> I really ran away with this chapter and actually was really proud of it. I thought it added more conflict and depth to Padme's character which will become more clear later on in the story. The gentlemen's club scene was so my favorite to write so far, besides the flashback in the second story.

“Alex, what has gotten into you?” Padme shouted at him as soon as he walked through the door of their shared apartment. He rented the second bedroom while Padme and her fiancé, Jonathan, shared the other bedroom.

The twins had spent their lives in the shadow of their parents, both exceptional explorers, intelligent scholars, and evidently masters at espionage. Now, being twenty-two years old, they were both in college at Oxford, abet studying different fields. Alex ended up falling into the family line of business and was studying archaeology while Padme decided to cultivate her love of planes and study engineering.

“Will you calm down Mae,” Alex said as he set his coat down on the couch and headed towards the kitchen, “How did you find out anyway?”

“Asoka told me.” Padme said following Alex into the kitchen.

“Of course, she did.” Asoka Tano was head of the register’s office at Oxford. She evidently knew their grandparents, Bail and Bertha Organa, very well and had a lot of respect for their father.

“Don’t give me that attitude. What happened to you that you are just going up and leave? Don’t you have one more year and you’ll be done?” Padme asked.

Alex pulled a beer out of the fridge before coming over to sit down at the kitchen table. After taking a long swig he turned to his sister and said, “I got a lead. On a dig sight. I’m going after it.”

Padme sat down opposite her brother, “You are leaving school on the off chance that you can dig up a mummy? Does the phrase, ‘Rest in Peace,’ mean anything in this family?”

“It’s a solid lead. Dr. Wilson said that there is a private investor and that they have the Bembridge journal that can lead to the discovery of the century.” Alex explained.

“Because being kidnapped by Imhotep and a crazy Egyptian cult wasn’t enough for you.” Padme said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“That was mum and dad’s discovery. This one will be mine.” Alex explained.

Padme rolled her eyes at her brother, “Why couldn’t you wait till the term ended? And what about the rent, Jonathan and I…”

Alex cut Padme off, “Jonathan is a low-life, no good son-of-a-bitch and you know it, Mae.”

“Stop talking about my fiancé like that!” Padme shouted at him.

“Mae, Jonathan is lying to you. He goes out to the gentlemen’s club every Saturday and cheats on you. He doesn’t respect your intelligence and makes unnecessary demands of you. If I have to hear one of his, ‘the war is over and women should be in the home,’ speeches then I swear I’m going to shoot him, Mae.” Alex said.

Padme couldn’t look her brother in the eye. Deep down, she knew he was telling the truth and was just trying help her, but she felt trapped and a sense of love and obligation to her relationship. Damn the Solo stubbornness that ran through her veins. 

Alex grabbed her hand, holding it, “Don’t cry, Mae. It’s not the first time someone tried to use our family name to gain our wealth.”

“Do you really think that’s all Jonathan is trying to do? Use me as a meal ticket?” Padme asked her brother.

“I believe so.” Alex said before he let go of her hand. “You said it yourself, the term is almost over. Why don’t you come with me? You speak Mandarin better than I do and more importantly it will give you time to clear your head and think about this before you marry Jonathan. Before it’s too late and you end up in a horrible relationship.”

“What is an engineer like me going to do at a temple?” Padme half scoffed; half laughed at the idea of joining her brother half-way around the world.

“Lot’s of things, Mae. You are so talented and I just don’t want you wasting her life with someone who clearly doesn’t deserve to be in it.” Alex said with love and hope in his voice. He was always very protective of his sister. 

“Let me think about it. If I decided to come then I’ll join you in two weeks when the term is done.” Padme said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She didn't know what she was going to do without Alex around. 

Alex stood up and kissed his twin sister on the forehead. “I’ve got to pack. I’m meeting Dr. Wilson tomorrow at noon and then we are off to China. I’ll leave you instructions on how to contact me if you decide to join. One more favor?”

“What is it?” Padme asked.

“Can you not tell Mum and Dad where I’m at? I just don’t want them to worry.” Alex said.

Padme rolled her eyes, “You mean you don’t want them showing up at your site.”

Alex nodded his head guiltily.

“Alright. But I do have to tell them you dropped out of school otherwise they are going to find out eventually and I will not go down for keeping that a secret.” Padme said.

“Fair enough.” Alex said as he left the kitchen and went to pack his room up.

Later that night, Padme was waiting for Jonathan to come home so they could have dinner together when she received a telephone from him that he was going to be home late and to not wait up for him. Deflated, Padme hung up the phone and went to knock on Alex’s door. He had his travel bag packed and the majority of his belongings in boxes ready to be shipped back home. “You said he goes to the gentlemen’s club on Saturday’s?” she asked her brother.

“Yeah, why?” Alex asked.

“That was Jonathan on the phone. We were supposed to have dinner together tonight but he called to tell me he was going to be home late and to not wait up.” Padme said.

“It’s on St. Clements street, not far from the university.” Alex told her, “Let me get my jacket and I’ll take you, if that is what you really want.”

“No, I can go by myself.” Padme said with conviction in her voice, “I need to do this myself, Alex.”

Alex nodded, “If you need anything, come and get me.”

With her coat and hat on, Padme left the flat and walked the short blocks to the gentlemen’s club that Jonathan was rumored to be at. She looked at the ornate door before stepping up to enter the establishment when she was stopped by the bouncer. “I’m afraid I can’t let you enter miss.”

“And why not?” Padme said, her voice was calm but with an edge of authority.

“Look, this is not a place an honest woman like yourself should be entering.” The bouncer tried to politely explain when another gentleman walked up behind her.

“You do not understand, sir. I just need to get inside for a moment and then I’ll leave.” Padme tried to reason with the bouncer, but he was having none of it.

“I’m sorry, miss. But you have to leave now or I will be force to call law enforcement.”

“There is no need for that Miles, she’s with me.” The man said.

“Mr. Amidala! I beg your pardon, but did you say this woman is with you?” the bouncer, Miles, asked.

“Yes, she is.” The man, Mr. Amidala, looked down at Padme before handing over his coat and hat to Miles. He kissed her lightly on the lips and said, “Sorry I’m late darling. Traffic was terrible.”

Shocked, Padme remained speechless as she looked at the man that was trying to help her out. She felt her cheeks burning as she tried to ignore the tingling sensation his brief kiss left behind on her lips. 

“Why don’t you give Miles here your coat and then we can go inside. Sound good, Beautiful?” Mr. Amidala said when he saw her state of shock left her unable to answer. 

Padme nodded before handing her coat to Miles. The bouncer told the two to enjoy their night before Mr. Amidala placed a hand on Padme’s back and ushered her into the club.

Once they were inside, Padme took a quick survey of the room. She was clearly not dressed for the venue, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her from finding Jonathan. Her unexpected knight-in-shining-armor pushed her towards the bar to keep her from the center of the room and the wandering eyes of various gentlemen.

“I don’t know who you are, but what do you want and why did you help me?” Padme asked Mr. Amidala as she looked up into his eyes once she had found her voice again. He had gorgeous dark brown eyes and a head of chocolate brown hair that waved out to frame his face. Ignoring her question, he flagged down the bartender.

“Ani! What can I get you? You’re usual? Oh! I see you brought company.” The bartender said as he pulled two clean glasses out to begin pouring some drinks for other patrons.

Mr. Amidala rolled his eyes, “Always good to see you too Greedo. I’ll have a whiskey, neat and the lady here will have a ginger ale.”

“The lady, actually prefers a French 75. Straight up, if you please. Top-shelf Champaign.” Padme told Greedo as she turned and stared Mr. Amidala in the eye, daring him to argue over her drink of choice.

After a few moments of intense eye contact, Mr. Amidala turned back to Greedo and said, “Whatever the lady desires. You can put it on my tab.”

“Right away,” Greedo said as he turned his back to make their drinks.

“I never would have guessed a woman like you would chose such an interesting drink.” Mr. Amidala said.

“A woman like me?”

“Earth defyingly beautiful.” He said as he leaned down and whispered the complement in her ear. Padme shuttered and blushed at the contact.

Greedo handed them their drinks as he turned to serve other customers. Mr. Amidala took a sip of his whiskey before looking down at Padme to ask, “So, why did a girl like you need to get into this place so badly?”

Padme looked at Mr. Amidala for a moment wondering if she should tell the truth or lie to him. So far, his actions showed no ill-intent towards Padme, so she opted to tell the truth, “I’m looking for my fiancé, Mr. Amidala.”

“Anakin.” Was all he said.

“I beg your pardon? No, my fiancé’s name is Jonathan.” Padme said.

“I didn’t mean your fiancé. My name is Anakin. You do not have to call me Mr. Amidala.” He said. 

“Anakin,” she said testing the name out on her tongue. Padme could not deny the name felt right as it slipped from her tongue. Embarrassed by her actions and constant staring, she took a long sip of her drink and turned away from Anakin’s hypnotic stare.

“What did your fiancé do to warrant such an intrusion upon his personal life?” Anakin asked.

Padme rolled her eyes before setting her drink down on the bar, “I believe he has been unfaithful to me. Perhaps, he was never really in love with me and was using me to get to a family fortune. My twin brother told me this is where he goes every Saturday, and….”

“You just had to come and see for yourself. Find the truth.” Anakin finished for her.

Padme nodded her head in confirmation. She looked back up at Anakin and asked, “And what are you doing here? You hardly seem the type to…associate with this crowd.”

Anakin chuckled at that before finishing off his whisky. “I merely come here for a quiet game of poker. Little did I know I would run into a charming damsel such as yourself tonight.”

“I will have you know, good sir, that I am no damsel.” Padme said getting closer to him. She stared him down before he let out another little chuckle.

“Of that, my dear, I have no doubt. Please, will you grace me with your name? Maybe I can help you find your fiancé. Jonathan was the fellows name?” Anakin asked.

“It’s Padme.” She said, the steel in her voice tapering off a bit.

“Padme… a beautiful name for a beautiful woman.” Anakin said.

Padme blushed a bit, “That’s the third time tonight you called me beautiful.”

“So?” Anakin said with smirk on his face. He held out his hand to her, “Join me. I might know where he is.”

Warning bells were going off in Padme’s head, but she just couldn’t escape the spell that Anakin Amidala had placed upon her. Taking his hand, she allowed him to escort across the room to a poker table in the far corner near the rear exit of the building. Sitting at the table was the unmistakable image of her fiancé with his cards close to his chest and a lady of the night sitting on his lap.

Padme stopped just short of the table. She couldn’t believe that Alex had been right. Jonathan had been unfaithful to her and was most likely using her for the family fortune. All the times he said he would be short on his share of the rent, having her buy the groceries, and paying the utilities because he was ‘just too poor’ was all because his money was being thrown at the gambling table.

Anakin nudged her a bit to knock her out of her trance, “Padme, are you alright?” he asked.

Padme let the anger of the situation fuel her as she began plotting the best way to extract revenge on her fiancé. She looked up at Anakin. The man had concern written across his face, but it quickly morphed into confusion as he saw a knowing smile spread across her face.

Holding up her left hand she took off her engagement ring. Honestly, it was a poor excuse for jewelry as it didn’t even have a real diamond on it, but she had been so happy the day Jonathan proposed that she didn’t bother to point out that she knew the ring was a fake. Holding it up to Anakin she asked, “How good is your bluff?”

Anakin held out his hand and Padme dropped the ring into his palm. She unbuttoned the top two buttons of her blouse to allow for a little cleavage to show and took her hair out of the bun that was currently on top of her head. She shook it out a little and allowed the curls to gracefully fall around her face.

“Well, do I look like a girl that can sit on your lap?” Padme asked him.

Anakin gulped at the question before he stuttered out, “You are- more than- I mean, yes. You are absolutely perfect.”

Smiling she leaned up and put a kiss on Anakin’s cheek before turning to whisper in his ear. “I want you to gamble the ring and lose it to Jonathan. Then once he has won it, I want you to take me far away from this place and show me how you would love a girl like me. Deal?”

Anakin raised his hand to use his index finger and thumb to gently pinch Padme’s chin. He turned her face back towards his before he leaned down and kissed her. Padme felt her body come to life like an engine turning on. She could feel his kiss ignite currents of electricity that Jonathan never could spark.

When he pulled back, Anakin looked longingly into Padme’s eyes and said, “deal,” grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the table.

___________________________

Sunlight began streaming through Padme’s window as she slowly roused herself from a deep sleep. Blinking a few times, she allowed her eyes to focus and have her mind catch up to the reality of what had happened the night before. She remembered the look of unaltered shock on Jonathan’s face as she sat down on Anakin’s lap while the dealer dealt his hand.

She remembered how she felt smug with satisfaction as she watched Jonathan become more uncomfortable as the night went on and she had caught him in all his lies. The lady on his lap was becoming more irritable as Jonathan kept losing round after round. And then the moment came that Anakin bet the ring when it was just himself and Jonathan left in the round. Anakin folded the hand giving Jonathan a false victory. He lifted Padme up to take her out of the club and to his house. As the pair left, she turned and told Jonathan not to come home that night and turned to kiss Anakin passionately in front of her ex-fiancé. It was the best way to leave him. Let him suffer the embarrassment she had felt. 

They collected their belongings from Miles and Padme tugged him towards her flat a few blocks away. She remembered not caring if her brother was home, but she wanted Anakin Amidala, even if it was only for a night.

Padme shot up in bed clutching the thin blanket to her chest as she realized she was very naked and laying next to a very naked Anakin.

Anakin stirred next to her, “Good Morning,” he said sitting up to place a kiss on her shoulder.

The gesture was so sweet she couldn’t help but smile, “Good Morning.” She said as her gaze drifted to Anakin’s lips. He leaned down to capture her lips, pushing his tongue inside her mouth enticing a long moan from her when the bedroom door suddenly banged open.

“Well, well, sister dear. When I said go and find your fiancé, I didn’t mean bring home a bedfellow.” Alex laughed from the doorway.

Anakin didn’t even bat an eye at Alex as he reached his hand out for him to shake it, “Anakin Amidala.”

Alex reached down and shook his hand, “Alex Solo, Mae’s twin brother.”

“Honestly, Alex, do you have no respect for personal space.” Padme asked. Her cheeks were a deep crimson at her current condition.

“I didn’t respect it when we were kids, what makes you think I would change my habits now?” Alex asked her. Anakin chuckled at Alex’s remark.

“What time is it? Don’t you have a plane to catch?” Padme asked.

“It’s almost 10:00 a.m., and yes, I better be going to London. China awaits.” Alex said as he turned to walk away, he stepped just outside the door when we popped his head back in, “You can still come if you want, Mae.”

Padme sighed, “Let me get through my finals and I’ll join you. Leave the address and contact information on the table.”

Alex smiled, “Stick Jonathan with the rent. I’ll see you in Shanghai!” 

When Alex left, Anakin turned to Padme and asked, “Shanghai? You’re going to China? For how long?”

“Just till the start of next term. I do intend to finish my engineering degree.” Padme said.

“What’s in China?” Anakin asked as he leaned down to leave soft kisses on Padme’s neck.

“My brother is an archaeologist. It sort of runs in the family. He is on a quest to make his first big discovery and make a name for himself. After he heard about my situation with Jonathan, he offered to have me tag along to get out of the country. Clear my head sort of thing.” Padme explained.

Anakin continued his soft open-mouthed kisses on Padme’s skin. She thought she heard him whisper something like 'I thought I was helping you clear your head," but her brain was too fuzzy to acknowledge it through the sensations Anakin was pulling from her. Humming at her explanation, Anakin pulled away from her neck and said, “But you will come back? Because now that I have a taste of you Padme Solo, I cannot and will not ever get enough of you.”

Padme picked up one of Anakin’s hands and kissed the inside of his wrist, “Promise. I barely know you, but… you have bewitched me Anakin Amidala.”

Little did she know that her and Alex’s journey in China would lead to the awakening of yet another mummy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I did some research and a French 75 was a popular mix drink in the 40's and 50's. It comprises of gin, Champagne, lemon juice, and sugar. It is cannon in this story that Padme's favorite drink is a French 75 while the rest of the Solo's all enjoy whiskey. :) 
> 
> Also, I just love how Alex and Padme are protective of one another. And I love Alex's nickname for his sister! All the feels and love of this family are going to be the death of me. Ha ha!


	3. Oxfordshire, England- 1946

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now, let's see how Rey and Ben are handling retirement.

“You can run, but you can’t hide.” Rey said to the fish in the lake as she lifted the ‘How to…’ book about flying fish. It had been thirteen years since they had stopped the Scorpion King in the Oasis of Ahm Shere, and life had certainly been very interesting.

Ben had gladly taken over as curator for the British Museum after their last encounter with Imhotep. It was nice to be in one place and not have to worry about the exhibits coming back to life from the underworld. Rey stayed home with the kids and would occasionally assist Ben when he needed help at the museum, that was until September 1, 1939; the day Germany invaded Poland. They had been preparing for something of this magnitude ever since Agent Fry visited them that day and asked them to be spies for the British Government under the guise that they were moving artifacts for display and replacement. The danger and adventure was welcomed back into their lives like an old friend. 

Like all children, Alex and Padme had grown up and were now in college. Padme was studying at Oxford to become an engineer, while Alex, of course, had gone into archaeology. Although, Alex was not exactly on his parents’ good side at the moment as they received a phone call from Padme saying that Alex quit college and had run off to Asia somewhere. She would not reveal details, but from what Rey could determine from her daughter’s tone, it had been an ugly fight. He was renting an apartment with her and her fiancé, Jonathan, whom was evidently no longer coming with her to family functions. Ben insisted that Rey stop digging for information regarding that relationship and that when Padme was ready, she would tell them what happened.

When the second great war was in full effect, Britain was on lock down and Ben and Rey were drafted into the game of espionage. They would smuggle intelligence and artifacts across many borders and out of Nazi hands. Once the war ended on September 2, 1945; they both agreed it was time to retire their life of adventure. Instead of going back to the museum, Ben wrote two novels about their adventures with the mummy and Rey… well, she struggled to find a hobby.

“One o’clock, ten o’clock, one o’clock, ten o’clock…” Rey kept repeating as she moved the fishing rod back and forth from the positions she was reciting. Ben had encouraged her to try and find something to do with her time that did not involve guns.

“And this is something that grown ups do?” she chanted to herself as she tried and failed to cast the line into the stream. Instead, the hook landed in the side of her neck, causing intense pain as it pulled on her flesh. She tried to pull it out, but ended up just cutting the wire instead and left the hook in her skin. 

On her next attempt she got the hook stuck in a tree branch, causing her to climb up the tree to try and retrieve it. She crawled across the branch and was just about to reach the hook, when the branch snapped crashing Rey into the ground.

She was muddy, she was tired, and she still had a hook in her neck. Rey gave up on the fishing rod and pulled out her pistol, “Bite on this.” She said as she let off a few rounds, dead fish floating to the surface of the stream. Satisfied she caught a few fish, she grabbed them and loaded it into the basket along with the fishing gear into her car and headed back towards the manner. Rey scratched at the hook in her neck the whole way.

“Ben, I’m home!” Rey shouted as she walked through the ornate front door.

“Mr. Solo is at his book reading, ma’am. He’ll be home for dinner.” Maz Kanata, their butler, said as she came around the corner to retrieve Rey’s coat and catch of the day.

“Oh, right. Well, that’s great, ‘cause we’re having fish.” Rey said as she hung her jacket on the Egyptian statue in the hallway and handed the basket to Maz. With a smug smile she said, “You didn’t think I’d catch anything, did you?”

“I had the utmost confidence, ma’am.” Maz replied back in a slightly sarcastic tone.

Rey turned to the closet to hang up the fishing rod and put the supplies way. She barely heard Maz remind her of the hook in her next and asking to fetch the wire cutters when she became distracted by her desert uniform. The memories of Hamunaptra started to flood back through her. Just as suddenly as they came, they were gone. Rey hit the uniform a few times and went to find Maz in the kitchen.

_________________________

“Now safely aboard the airship with the mummy finally vanquished, Dash swept Scarlet into his arms. ‘Oh, God, Dash, I thought I’d lost you.’; ‘For a moment there you did.’; Bathed in rays of golden sunlight, our heroes sealed their reunion with a kiss of timeless passion, their love deeper and truer than ever.” Ben enacted, closing the book of the second installment of the series he wrote.

People were clapping vigorously at his performance when a woman stood up to ask a question, “Mr. Solo, we’re all dying to know, is the Dash O’Keefe character really based on you?”

Ben looked up from the book to see the audience captivated as they anxiously waited for the answer. Smiling, Ben said, “Honestly, I can say he’s a completely different person. Any more questions?”

Several hands went up and lots of voices spoke. One was louder than the rest as another woman asked, “Is your life today just as exciting as it was before the war?”

Ben’s face fell a little bit as he fondly remembered the adventures he and Rey had over the years. Sighing he said, “I wish my life were that exciting now.”

A man asked him, “Will there be another book in the series?”

Then a woman yelled over him, “Do you believe in happy endings?”

Ben patiently answered the questions of the audience till his manager kindly ended the event and he went home. London wasn’t too far from Oxford, but it was far enough that the drive would allow him time to collect himself before facing Rey.

He was the one that insisted they go into retirement, and he was just to damn stubborn to admit that he was hating it, almost every second of it. Sure, it was nice to not have to worry about being killed every moment, but truth be told- Ben missed the adrenaline, the excitement! That just couldn’t be their life anymore. They had to stop. Let the past die, kill it if they have to.

_____________________

Rey was making two drinks, one for herself and one for Ben, when Ben asked her, “Isn’t this blissful?”

She turned around walking back with the drinks to the dining room table. Ben was going through the mail when he continued, “Dinner at home.”

Rey hummed, “Every night.”

“Every night.” Ben echoed her sentiment as the two raised their glasses to one another and downed the alcohol.

“Here’s to retirement.” Rey said.

“May we stay this happy forever.” Ben said with a smile on his face. He started unfolding his napkin and placed it on his lap while he and Rey waited for dinner to be served. After he could no longer bear the silence he said, “Still no letter from Alex. I’ve sent him three in the last month.”

“Yeah, well, what do you expect? The only time we ever hear from that kid is when he’s getting kicked out of college or he needs more money.” Rey said with a little bit of disdain in her voice.

“I’m sure he’s just buried in his studies. At least Padme is with him.” Ben said.

Rey gave Ben a side eye when she said, “Hopefully she will talk some sense into him.” She loved her husband, dearly. But there were times that he would just ignore the obvious, especially when it came to the flaws of their children.

The couple fell into another uncomfortable silence when Rey asked Ben with a smile, “So, how did your book reading go?”

Ben smiled back, “Oh, fine. Thank you. Until they asked me, ‘When will there be another Mummy adventure?’”

“Yeah, but you did promise the publisher a third book.” Rey replied.

“I know! But I spend my nights staring at a blank page, completely blocked.” Ben complained.

Rey leaned closer to Ben, dropping her voice trying her best to be seductive, “You know, we could skip dinner, and I could attempt to inspire you upstairs.”

Ben grabbed her hands and squeezed them when he said, “Oh, that is so sweet of you darling. But I am going to sit at that typewriter until something exciting comes.”

With the mood killed, Rey tried her best to hide her rejection when Maz and another server came out with dinner.

“Oh, Trout! How lovely! I’m so happy you found a hobby that doesn’t involve guns.” Ben said as he picked up his fork to start cutting into the fish.

Maz cleared her throat and gave Rey a pointed look as Rey dropped her head to try and hide the fact that she had actually caught the fish with her gun.

Ben took a large bite of the trout when his face scrunched up at the bite. Lifting his hand up, he pulled a bullet out of his mouth. Rey had a guilty look on her face, mumbling an apology before turning back to her dinner.


	4. Ningxia Province, China- 1946

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's catch up with Alex and Padme on their dig while we see the sad state of Rey and Ben's marriage.

It had been two months since Alex set off to find the Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Padme joined him in Shanghai right after her finals ended, which she was happy to report she aced. He felt bad for leaving her to deal with the fall out of breaking up with Jonathan and then having to move out of the apartment by herself, but she put a smile on and refused to discuss it with Alex.

The first few weeks were spent searching the country side, trying to decipher Dr. Bembridge’s notebook for details on where the tomb would be buried. Thank God for Padme. She was always better at languages than Alex. They finally found a location in Ningxia Province that proved promising and hired local workers to start digging up the tomb. Now it was just a matter of time before they found the entrance.

Alex was sitting in the tent that Padme had named, “the command center,” flipping through the journal when Padme entered.

“Good morning sunshine. Over sleep much?” Alex asked in a teasing voice. 

“Shut up.” Padme replied as she came to sit down next to Alex and see what he was writing in his notes.

Despite his teasing, Alex was genuinely concerned for his sister’s well-being. Since Padme arrived, her energy level seemed to be non-existent. She would become tired randomly through out the day and in the morning would not eat breakfast. She would sneak off and then appear a few hours later waiting for some direction from her brother. Chu Wah, one of the workers that Alex had become close to, said that he saw Padme throwing up one morning and thought she was sick. Bottom line, something was wrong with Padme and whatever it was, she felt it necessary to keep it a secret from Alex. Which, if he was being honest with himself, was very disturbing. The twins never kept secrets from one another. 

“Have you found any more clues in the journal that could lead to the entrance?” Padme asked, changing the subject and bringing Alex out of his spiraling thoughts. 

“No, not yet. Want to take a look?” He said handing the journal to her. Padme began reading the journal when Alex got up and went over to the dig sight to go talk to Chu wah.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find the entrance today.” He said in mandarin to some workers that passed him by. He walked up to the food tent and asked, “Li Tung, what’s for lunch?”

“Noodle soup.” Li Tung replied scooping up a ladle full for Alex to try.

After taking a sip, Alex laughed and told him it was very good. He was talking to Chu Wah when he heard a commotion coming from the horizon. Lifting up his binoculars, he could see Professor Wilson and a few other people coming to the site with fresh supplies, “Good. Wilson’s back.”

Just then Padme walked up to Alex holding the journal, “I was just about to tell you that Wilson is back.”

“I can see that.” Alex said as he and Padme went over to greet the professor.

“You’re a couple days late, Professor.” Padme said.

“We were beginning to think you’d run into bandits.” Alex said coming over to shake the professor’s hand.

Short of breath, Wilson replied, “Oh, my dear fellow. Thank you for your concern.”

“Thirsty?” Alex asked as he handed Wilson his canteen.

“Oh, yes, please.” Wilson said accepting the water. After he took a sip he turned to Alex and said, “You know, when I saw you and Padme standing up there, I could have sworn I was looking at the spitting images of your parents.”

Padme accepted the compliment while Alex nodded his head and said, “Yeah, well, hopefully after today, they will be known as Alex and Padme Solo’s parents.”

“Alex, I told you I didn’t want to be mentioned on the finding.” Padme protested.

“This isn’t up for debate, Mae. If it wasn’t for your translation and guidance, we wouldn’t have even found Ningxia Province.” Alex replied.

The trio had come up to the face of the tomb that was being excavated when Wilson commented on it, “What a powerful face. When I told my colleagues at the museum that you had discovered the Colossus, they were trilled.”

“However?” Padme prompted sensing a ‘but’ coming from Wilson.

“I know.” Alex said, “When am I gonna get in that tomb?”

“Don’t let the buggers get you down.” Wilson said, “It was you that discovered the Bembridge journal and with it, you’ll discover the Emperor. I have complete faith in both of you.”

“Thank you, Professor.” Alex said, “Thanks for believing in me.”

Suddenly a man started shouting from the dig site. Padme, Alex, and Wilson walked over to see the top of an entrance being uncovered. “We found it! We found the door!” the worker shouted.

_________________________________

Back in England, Ben was at a loss for words as he sat in his study starting at a blank type writer. Pages of discarded drafts were crumpled and thrown in every direction on the floor as he tried to come up with a story to send to his publisher.

“Bad mummy…” he whispered as he clicked-clacked on the keys of the type writer. He decided that wasn’t descriptive enough and tried again, “Vile mummy?”

Shaking his head he said, “No. Cursed Mummy!” before pulling the paper out of the type writer, crumpling it, and discarding it into the trash can. He started pacing the study when he stopped in front of one of the swords that decorated the wall. He pulled it off the wall and started to walk around the room again with it in hand.

“Mysterious Mummy.” Ben started swinging the sword a few times before saying, “Malignant Mummy.”

Ben slashed the sword though the air as he pretended to attack his nonexistent foe. He jumped up on one of the tables and sock-slid down the table top pointing the sword forward, “Prepare to die!” he shouted as he continued to swing the sword.

Maz entered the study to see Ben playing with his sword. She jumped back in fear at his wild antics. Ben turned around, making eye contact with Maz in the door way. Embarrassed, he straightened up and tried to act like he was not just running around the room with sword moments ago. His smile dropped when he heard the candles cut in half and fall to the floor behind him. Maz simply cleared her throat and left the study.

Defeated, Ben put the sword back on the wall as he tried to find inspiration for his story. _I could attempt to inspire you, upstairs…_ Rey had offered earlier. No matter what, Ben would always need his wife and it had been a while since they had sex. Ben left the study and went upstairs to put on a silky robe and some silky pajama pants. No boxers, just like Rey liked.

“Rey!” he called down the stairs as he went to find his wife. He entered the front sitting room and called out in the room, “Darling, where are you?”

Ben came around the corner and saw his wife sitting in a chair by the window. He sauntered over to the fireplace and placed his hands on the mantle after he untied his robe and dropped it to the floor. “I’m ready to be inspired.” He said in a deep, sexy voice.

Despite the years, Ben still had an eight pack that he managed to keep in shape even in retirement. His hair spotted some grey and maybe he had some wrinkles around his eyes, but for the most part Ben thought his wife was still attracted to him. So, it surprised him when Rey didn’t immediately jump from the chair and start ridding him into the floor.

Deciding she needed a little more encouragement, Ben walked over to the chair and said, “Do you remember the time the mummy had me tied down? And you came to save me and you cut…No! You tore open the ropes is what you did, just as he was about to plunge his…”

Ben stopped talking when he saw that Rey was fast asleep in the chair with a book on outdoor life left open on her chest. She let out a loud snore that Ben quickly silenced by pinching her nose. “Oh, rats!” he said disappointed in not being able to ravish Rey. 


	5. The Eye of Shangri-La

“The crew has the dynamite set up. We are about to blow a hole through the tomb.” Padme informed Alex. The ammunition crew hid behind some crates in a trench and gave Padme the signal that they were ready to push the button. Padme gave them the okay.

The blast shot tons of dirt and rock into the air, causing anyone nearby to cover themselves. Once the debris cleared, there was an excellent path that allowed Alex, Padme, Wilson, and Chu Wah to entered the tomb.

Alex started laughing as he waved his flashlight back and forth in the tomb, looking at the place in wonder when suddenly he and Wilson set off an ancient bobby trap.

“Watch out!” Padme shouted as Alex tackled Wilson to avoid being crushed by spikes.

Once the two men recovered, Alex patted Wilson on the shoulder, “The Emperor didn’t want any house guest.”

“Yeah.” Wilson agreed as the men picked up their flash lights and continued to walk further into the chamber.

“Stay together and be careful where you step.” Padme said in mandarin as the crew continued their journey.

As they just passed through two stone dragons, Wilson and Alex noticed the outline of a body behind one of the pillars. Alex handed his flashlight to Padme and pulled out a hand gun, Wilson following pursuit. The two men exchanged a glance as they proceeded and flanked the man. What they saw was shocking.

Alex lowered his gun once they realized the body was merely a skeleton. Padme came and stood behind her brother shining the flashlight on the corpse so that the twins could possibly determine the identity. Alex moved the jacket to the side and saw the initials C.B. on the breast pocket of the shirt.

“Is that…” Padme was about to ask but was cut off.

“Sir Colin Bembridge.” Alex confirmed as he removed the hat from the corpses head. They looked at the hollowed-out eyes and dried out bones when the head suddenly popped off and landed in Alex’s hands.

“Oh geeze…” Wilson said as he gasped, recovering from the shock of the corpse.

“He went searching for this tomb almost 70 years ago.” Alex explained to Padme and Wilson, “They left him like this as a warning.”

“Unfortunately, this is not the dead man that’s gonna make us famous.” Wilson said bringing them back to business, “Let’s keep moving.”

Alex set the head down on the ground, disappointed in the lack of disregard for the man that inspired his father when Padme put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll get a crew down here and we’ll pack up his body to send back to England. I’m sure his family would appreciate a proper burial.”

Alex placed a hand over his sister’s and went to follow Wilson and Chu Wah while Padme left the tomb to get some help with the body. The men were walking down the stairs when suddenly the ceiling opened up dumping large piles of dirt and rock into the chamber of the tomb. Sunlight began streaming in, revealing a massive chamber of stone soldiers lined and prepared for commands from their Emperor.

“Look at it!” Wilson exclaimed. They had found the terracotta army, now all they had to do was find the Emperor.

The crew split down the lines of the soldiers as they examined the work. Alex was ecstatic while Chu Wah and his men remained skeptical. They grew up with the tales and legends of the Emperor’s tomb being cursed. 

Chu Wah was captivated and frightened by the stone soldiers that he didn’t watch where he was stepping. His right foot hit a trap that released a green spray of acid all over his face and body. He screamed as the acid ate and melted his skin, killing him in a matter of seconds. Alex tried to help him, unaware of the other trap that had been set off by a stone ball dropping into an open-mouthed dragon head statue. The statue set off several levers and pullies that started an automated bow. Arrows lined the floor as the men ran deeper into the tomb to avoid the deadly trap.

The arrows continued to fly, logging deep into the floor. One man was not fortunate enough to escape the attack as the arrows plunged into his back causing him to fall to the ground dead. Alex looked to his right and saw a flying metal disc that he ducked to avoid. The disc took off the head of one of the soldiers as it continued on its trajectory. The last worker that entered the tomb with them pushed Wilson out of the way as the disc lodged itself into the man’s chest, killing him instantly.

Once the commotion had settled down, Alex ran back to see if he could help any of the men that had perished when Wilson grabbed him and stopped him, “Alex, Alex, they’re dead! Come on. This kind of danger comes with the territory. You know that better than anyone.”

Alex stopped struggling as he came to his senses, the grief still present in his heart. “Yeah, Okay…” he said to Wilson as the men continued through the tomb to look for the Emperor.

“All right, good chap. Okay. Good Chap.” Wilson said in encouragement as they found their way to the center of the room.

“All the warriors are facing in to this point, as if awaiting an order from the Emperor.” Alex said as he stepped up on the platform.

“Well then, where is he?” Wilson asked, “Listen, you don’t think some bloody grave robber’s beaten us to the prize, do you?’

Alex pulled out his canteen and twisted the cap off, “No, he’s still here.” He lowered himself to be eye level with the stone table in the center of the room as he gently poured some of his water into the bowl, “You see, this is a Feng Shui compass.”

The needle moved a little bit as it connected with the water to indicate which direction was north. Alex pulled out his compass to confirm the direction., “Okay, Now. This is true north,” Alex said as he walked around the compass patting the side as indication.

“But the Feng Shui compass is set in the opposite direction. All right, we need to realign it.” Alex said as he grabbed the side of the compass. Wilson grabbed the other side and together the men twisted the compass until it could no longer turn.

The floor below Alex’s feet began to move, dropping them down a few inches before the compass pulled apart to reveal a hidden chamber below. Alex was caught on the crack as he lost his footing and fell down the hole opened by the Feng Shui compass. Wilson had managed to move out of the way just in time.

“Alex! Alex, speak to me!” Wilson called down into the under chamber.

Alex pulled himself up to look around the new chamber. There were more skeletons along with a few stone horses and some more soldiers. Oh, and of course there would be rats.

“Alex! Are you alright?” Wilson called down again.

“I’m fine.” Alex shouted up, pulling out his flashlight to begin exploring.

“Tell me, have we found the Emperor?” Wilson asked.

When Alex walked deeper into the chamber, he saw a horse drawn carriage with four stone horses at the head of the carriage. The driver was in a noble pose as one hand held the reins and behind it, a casket of the presumed Emperor. Alex started laughing in delight.

“What is it?” Wilson asked.

“It’s only the greatest find since King Tut!” Alex shouted. He didn’t know that Wilson had been knocked out by an unknown assailant.

Alex walked over to the coffin and read the inscription on the side, “If he is awakened, all mortals should despair.” He shouted up to Wilson to confirm to his professor that they had definitely found the Emperor, but Wilson did not respond.

As he continued exploring the tomb, Alex found several corpses of women next the chariot, “Oh, even had his concubines buried alive with him. Selfish bastard.”

Alex did not hear the assailant behind him as he called up to Wilson, “Hey, professor Wilson do you want to come down and take a look or are you so overwhelmed you can’t talk?”

A quiet thud sounded behind Alex as he spun around to see a knife trying to slash at him. He dodged the attack and tried to pull out his gun when the assailant kicked the weapon out of his hand. He landed a few punches on the intruder as they broke apart. The assailant climbed up out of the tomb while Alex picked up his gun and started shooting. His bullets missed the assailant, but one of them cut an old rope that set off a weight and started to raise the platform that housed the Emperor.

Alex started crying out for Wilson as the platform continued to rise. His eyes scanned the area when they landed up to his right as the assailant dropped down to try and disarm Alex. The assailant kicked Alex back, dropping him to his back as she brought the dagger in her hand to his throat. Alex’s head was hanging off the side of the platform and he could see the weight coming down on a collision course to crush him.

Alex was trying to keep the knife from cutting him, when he reached up with his other hand and pulled the blue scarf that was covering the assailant’s face. He looked up to see a woman panting above him. He continued to keep the knife at bay as he then reached over and grabbed a pot on the platform to place under the stone weight. With the weight stopped for the moment, Alex kicked the woman in the back, making her head collide with the stone. It was enough to stun her and have Alex push her off of his body. He rolled out of the way of the weight just as it crushed the pot and the platform continued its assent.

The assailant and Alex were in a stand off when Wilson came too and started shooting at the woman from above. She jumped up the rafters and avoided Wilson’s aim as she made top side and ran away.

Wilson lowered his weapon as Alex watched the woman retreat, “Let’s go, Professor. We got a lot of work to do.”

_______________________________

The Solo’s were enjoying yet another quiet day in their manor when Agent Fry from MI6 came calling to their front door. Maz brought him into the parlor where he sat down on one of the couches. Ben ordered some tea which was promptly brought in for himself and their guest.

Getting right to business, Agent Fry said, “First of all, I’d just like to say that the Foreign Office appreciates all that you did during the war. But I’ve been sent to offer you one last assignment.”

Rey was holding a cup of tea in her hand when Ben answered, “I’m afraid we’ve retired from the espionage game, haven’t we, dear?”

“Yeah, we’ve…We don’t do that anymore. We’re finished.” Rey said confirming what her husband was saying. They shared a silent look when Rey turned back to Agent Fry and asked, “But just out of curiosity, what is the mission anyway?”

Ben perked up when Agent Fry placed a wooden box on the coffee table in front of them. “We need you to courier this to Shanghai.” Agent Fry said as he opened the box.

“Nice piece of ice.” Rey said admiring the jewel.

Ben gasped as he gently picked up the diamond, “It’s the Eye of Shangri-La. If you believe the legend, it points the way to the Pool of Eternal Life.”

“It was smuggled out of China in 1940. Now, the government would like to return it to the Shanghai Museum as a sign of good faith to the Chinese people.” Agent Fry explained, “And with your expertise in the field, we naturally thought of you.”

“Oh, we would be so flattered!” Ben said excitedly. His face dropped as he realized he was breaking his promise to Rey, “But Rey and I, we made a promise to each other after the war that we would settle down.”

“That’s right, yeah, we did, didn’t we? We…” Rey said before Agent Fry interrupted.

“I see. Well, I must admit I am a little disappointed. Postwar China is very dangerous. There are a lot of factions that would love to get their hands on the Eye of Shangri-La. In lesser hands, the Eye could be lost forever.” Agent Fry said trying to manipulate the Solo’s into accepting the assignment. He could see it was working by the hunger that was present in the couple’s eyes.

“We couldn’t let that happen, could we?” Ben said turning to ask Rey.

“No, that could be bad for the world.” Rey said agreeing with Ben.

“The world…terrible.” Ben said.

“Yeah,” Rey said agreeing with Ben before she came up with an idea to convince Ben to accept, “You know… he has a brother that lives in China.”

“Poe!” Ben exclaimed.

“Yes, he owes a night club if I’m not mistaken.” Agent Fry said.

“We have been meaning to visit him. We could…drop in and surprise him.” Ben said.

“We should, Say hello?” Rey said agreeing with Ben.

“Why not?” Ben said agreeing, not even bothering to hide the excitement on his face.

“Does this mean we can count on you one last time?” Agent Fry asked for clarification.

Ben wrapped his arm around Rey’s shoulders as she excitedly said, “Yes.”


	6. Shanghai, China-- Chinese New Year, 1947

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find out what Poe has been up to and why Padme is acting weird. 
> 
> This chapter has all the feels for me. Alex is the best brother ever!

Downtown Shanghai was alight with excitement as the year of the Pig was in full swing that January. Fireworks were going off in the distance as Alex and Padme pulled up to their Uncle’s night club. The establishment was fittingly called, “Imhotep’s” and had an Ancient Egyptian theme from décor to the workers uniforms.

“Nice to see our uncle capitalized upon his misfortune.” Padme said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Alex chuckled as he helped his sister out of the cab and escorted her into the club. A lively Jazz tune was filling the room while a group of dancers were dressed in short Egyptian skirts on the stage dancing a choreographed number as entertainment for the guest. Alex handed their coats to the bouncer at the coat-check before turning to see Padme already sitting at the bar.

“Have you ordered yet?” he asked.

“No, not yet.” Padme said.

A bar tender came over to collect their order when Alex said, “I’ll have a martini, dry and she’ll have a French 75.”

“Actually, I could really use a ginger ale if you don’t mind.” Padme said changing her drink order. The bar tender turned back to make their drinks when Alex looked down at his sister.

“What has gotten into you? These past couple of weeks you have been distant and tired. Now your turning down your favorite drink? Plus, you are running back to England the day after our discovery is set to open to the public! Padme… are you okay?”

Padme knew her brother was being serious when he said her full name and not the affectionate nickname he usually used. Taking a shaky breath, Padme looked her brother in the eye and said, “I’m pregnant.”

The bar tender set their drinks down. Sensing the tension between brother and sister, he walked off without collecting payment. Alex picked up his drink and tossed it back in one gulp, clearly shocked at the news and not knowing how to respond. Turning back to Padme he asked, “Do you…”

“Yes, I know who the father is. I’m not as promiscuous as you, dear brother. I need to go back to England as soon as possible because the father has the right to know.” Padme said.

“Is it Jonathan’s?” Alex asked, anger lacing his voice.

“No,” Padme said confidently, “ Firstly, I've never had that intimate of a relationship with him. Secondly, I haven’t seen Jonathan since the night I embarrassed him at the gentlemen’s club. He didn’t even return to the flat after that, or if he did then it was when he knew I wouldn’t be there. It’s Anakin’s”

Alex raised his eyebrows at his sister, “You continued seeing him after you slept with him that night?”

Padme nodded her head slowly, “I think I’m in love with him, Alex. But I’m so scared. What is he going to think? We only have seen each other those two weeks before I came to China. The majority of our relationship has been long distance and through letters. What if he doesn’t want the baby? What if he asks me…”? She couldn’t even finish the sentence as tears begin leaking out of her eyes.

“Hey, Hey… no crying. This is a happy time. A happy thing. If he doesn’t want the baby you have me, Mum, and Dad. You will have family that will help you and the baby. But if he is half the man, I think he is, then he will accept full responsibility and marry you. If that’s not what you want then we will figure something out, Mae. You are not alone in this.” Alex said with full support for his sister.

Padme smiled at her brother when she saw their uncle at the other end of the bar. “Thank you, Alex. But please don’t tell our family just yet. I need to tell Anakin first. See where we stand.”

Poe was accepting two martini’s when he handed one of the drinks over to an older Russian lady and said, “Here’s to you, Princess. And Imhotep. May the bugger actually stay dead.”

The Russian lady and Poe toasted each other when Poe looked up to see his nephew and niece sitting at the other end of the bar. A young woman walked up to Alex interrupting his conversation with his sister as she asked Alex to buy a drink for her. Alex smirked and turned to his sister asking for permission to depart. Padme rolled her eyes and told her brother to have a good time.

The woman was running her gloved fingers over Alex’s jacket when Poe came up to him, “Alex! Alex! You’re back again! Let me get you a drink. Smooth special for the pup, huh?”

“Make that two!” Alex asked the bar tender. “Sorry, Uncle Poe, but I got a better offer.” He stared at the woman’s ass as she walked away from him and further into the club.

“No, no, Alex. No, look. Listen, how can I put this into archaeological terms, that is a tomb in which many pharaohs have lain.”

Alex was ignoring his Uncle’s advice when Poe continued, “Now, listen, listen just think about me for a moment, all right? Your and Padme’s discovery will go public in a few days, and your parents are sure to find out. They’re not gonna be happy you’ve dropped out of school. And..."

“Will you relax, Uncle Poe? Okay? I’m here. They’re a long way away. Now, excuse me. I have some excavation to do.” Alex said turning away from his uncle as he grabbed the drinks off the counter.

“Don’t take it personally, Uncle Poe. Even I couldn’t convince him to come back to school” Padme said from the bar.

“Ah, Mae, my dear. How are you?” Poe said as he kissed his niece’s forehead. “You look a little pale, darling. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Uncle Poe. And will be going back to England the day after the discovery goes public. It’s bad enough I will be missing the first day of classes for my last year of school…” she was explaining to her uncle when she looked up to see her parents walking into the nightclub.

“Poe!” Ben exclaimed as he and Rey walked up to his brother and their daughter.

“Padme!” Rey said surprised as she hugged her daughter at the bar.

Poe started laughing nervously, “You’re in China! Ben. Rey.”

“No offense, but what are you guys doing here?” Padme asked her parents.

“Visiting your Uncle of course. So lovely to see you, Poe.” Rey said as kissed Poe on the cheek.

“Where is your brother? I thought he was with you?” Ben asked Padme. She was about to reply when Poe beat her to the punch. 

Poe allowed his guilt to overtake him as he blurted out, “I had no idea he was here!”

Looking at Poe in confusion, Rey asked, “Whose here?”

Suddenly, the door to the private lounge kicked open as Alex was tossed out. He was clutching his jaw while glass shattered on the ground when he looked up and made eye contact with his parents. “Mum? Dad?”

“Alex!” Rey said as she jumped over a table to help her son. There were men arguing with a woman in the private room when suddenly a very large and hairy man ran out of the room and headed straight for Alex.

“I’m gonna kill you, kid.” He threatened, but Rey stopped his fist from colliding with Alex’s face with just the palm of her hand.

“Not so fast, that’s my kid.” She said in a menacing tone. She made eye contact with the man, recognizing that it was an old associate of hers, “Chewie?”

“Ricochet O’Connell.” Chewie said as the pair embraced and exchanged pleasantries.

“What are you doing here? Are you alright?” Ben asked Alex as he tried to clean up his son while Poe cued the conductor to start the music back up.

“How long has it been?” Rey asked Chewie.

“Egypt, ’23. French Foreign Legion.” Chewie said.

Rey started laughing, turning to her family she said, “This guy could land a plane on anything, you…”

Ben continued to clean up Alex when Chewie pointed his finger at Alex, “Ricochet, he had his hands all over me girl. Now, son or no son, I gotta give him a beating!”

“Get out of the way, mum!” Alex said as he tried to punch Chewie in the face. Rey pushed Alex back into Ben telling her son to sit down.

“Now as much as I’d really like you to teach him a valuable lesson…” Rey started to say when Ben cut in.

“His father would be upset. Very upset. You have a lot of explaining to do, young man.” Ben said addressing Alex.

Rey quietly addressed Chewie, “I got a husband now, and a kid. Two actually. Things are a little bit different, I’m sure you understand.” She winked at Chewie relieved that he was going to let the incident go, “Let me make it up to you.”

Padme and Poe were just watching the family drama unfold form the bar when Alex stormed off. Ben was trying to calm the situation down when Rey walked up and grabbed Alex’s arm.

“I’m not even here five minutes and I’m already pulling your fanny out of the fire. That’s it. You’re going back to college.” Rey threatened.

“How’d you think this is going to work, Mum? You two show up, tell me what to do? Remind me how I’m not perfect like Padme?”

“Hey! Don’t drag me into this.” Padme said setting her ginger ale down on the bar.

“No. But we should sit down and discuss this like a family.” Ben said in a reasonable tone.

“No offense, Dad, but we haven’t been a family in a long time.” Alex said before he turned and walked out of the club.

“Hey, don’t you turn your back on me. Alex!” Rey shouted, but it was no use.

Rolling her eyes, Padme motioned for Poe to go follow Alex and have a man on man conversation with him. She just couldn’t deal with it right now. Her stomach was turning and the ginger ale was not helping like it should.

Ben looked down at his daughter’s choice of drink before saying, “You look a little pale, sweetheart. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Thanks Dad.” Padme said dismissing his concern. 

Ben turned his gaze at Rey, eyeing her for how she handled the situation with Alex.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Rey said. She sighed and walked out of the club to get some fresh air on the roof.

Ben followed her, “It’s all your fault!”

“My fault? You’re the one that’s always smothering him. You couldn’t leave him alone for five minutes without wiping his nose.” Rey said.

“Perhaps I was overcompensating for the fact that you never took an interest in his life. That you chose to belittle him and praise Padme instead.” Ben yelled back at Rey.

“That’s bull shit and you know it Ben. His life was my top priority. How many times did I save that kid from breaking his neck? Padme never did any reckless or stupid on the level that Alex did.” Rey yelled back at Ben.

Ben lowered his voice, not wanting to fight with his wife, “All I’m saying is a little warmth and encouragement would have been nice.”

“I’m his mother. It’s implied.” Rey insisted.

Ben dropped his gaze and looked out at the city streets below, “We’ve spent our entire lives searching for priceless artifacts, and the one thing that’s most precious to us, we’ve lost. And if we keep going like this, we will lose Padme as well.”

Rey sighed. She knew Ben was right. He was always right.

“We can’t let Alex or Padme become some stranger in pictures on our mantle.” Ben explained as he came over and embraced his wife.

“We can’t let that happen.” Rey said into Ben’s chest as she brought her arms around his waist.

“No, we can’t.” Ben said as he brought his arms around her shoulders.

He was rubbing his hands up and down her back in comfort when Rey asked, “How am I going to fix this? I was so afraid of my family being torn apart and now they have drifted because of me.”

“It’s not all your fault, Rey. We need to do this together.” Ben said. He pulled them apart and placed a kiss on her forehead. No matter what it took, they would fight to keep their family together.


	7. Paramilitary Outpost, Western China

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NOW we meet the villains!

Deep in the regions of Western China, General Yang was returning to his base camp of the Kuominatang faction where his army was training for the inevitable rise of the Emperor. He walked into the command building to be greeted by his second-in-command, Choi. The woman saluted him before coming over to provide a report.

“The Solo’s are in Shanghai.” She said.

“Do they have the Eye of Shangri-La?” General Yang asked.

“Our spy says they do.” Choi confirmed with confidence.

“Good! Assemble the troops!” General Yang commanded.

Once Choi fulfilled her General’s command, Yang came out to address the followers. “Soldiers! Soon all our training and sacrifice will bear great fruit. It is my dream to raise our Emperor from his tomb. Only He can bring order out of this chaos. Soldiers…tonight our great battle begins!”

The small army began chanting after their General’s speech. Yang was sure that once the Eye was in his hand, he would serve the Emperor and China would once again become a nation feared and respected by the world.

_______________________

Poe had arrived at the hotel that, coincidentally, Rey, Ben, Alex, and Padme were all staying at. It was the night before the grand opening of the exhibit and Padme had arranged a private showing for their parents with Professor Wilson.

With Chinese New Year in full swing, the streets of Shanghai were packed with cars and people celebrating as they remained at a stand still in all the chaos.

“You know, this might have been faster if we took a rickshaw.” Rey said from the back seat. Padme sat in the middle next to her mother while Alex was sitting on the opposite side of the car next to the window. Ben sat in the front with Poe when Poe leaned back to address Rey’s comment.

“It’s Chinese New Year! Don’t you just love this country? They have so many extra little holidays, and drinking is mandatory.” Poe said.

Ben leaned back and spoke to Alex, “I can’t believe we get to see your first big discovery! It’s so exciting.”

“Well, after last night, I’m surprised you want to see it at all.” Alex said in a deadpan tone. Padme shot him a look that told him to behave himself as Poe pulled up to the Shanghai Museum.

“Listen, I’ll pick you up in about an hour.” Poe said as he parked the car so everyone could get out.

“You’re not coming?” Ben asked his brother, disappointment thickly lacing his voice.

“No, no, I’ve seen enough mummies to last a lifetime.” Poe said.

Alex escorted everyone into the main gallery where the Emperor sat on the carriage being pulled by the four stone horses. He waved his hand in presentation as he said, “There he is.”

“Oh, son, very impressive.” Ben said as he came up to took at the inscriptions on the side of the carriage, “When do you get to open the sarcophagus?”

“Well, after the official red tape has been cut.” Alex explained.

“Padme, you helped discover him too, right?” Rey said to her daughter.

Padme shook her head, “No, this was all Alex’s discovery. I just came along for the fresh air and provided a few minor translations.”

“So, Dad, why don’t you stick around for the next few days and we can open it together.” Alex asked Ben.

Ben smiled at his son’s request, “I’d like that very much, thanks!”

“Alex, why don’t you go and tell Professor Wilson that we’re here.” Rey said to her son.

“No Problem. Just don’t wake the big guy up while I’m gone.” Alex said snapping his fingers and pointing to the sarcophagus.

Rey did a mock, ‘Cross my heart’ promise to Alex as he walked way. Ben gave his wife a pointed look to try and encourage Rey to show pride in their son’s work.

Rey followed Alex when she called out to him, “You know, this is all really, really big stuff.” She leaned against one of the stone horses and gave Alex an awkward thumbs up.

“Whatever you say, Mum.” Alex said before walking away to find Professor Wilson. Padme followed him while Ben came up to start rubbing his wife’s shoulders as she let out a long held in breath of air.

Alex walked down the hallway a little faster than normal as he allowed his resentment towards his mother to fester. Padme was struggling to catch up to him when she called out, “You know she’s trying, right?”

Sighing, Alex stopped and turned to look at his sister, “I know. I just… they always compare me to you. I really hate that they think I am not capable of doing something on my own.”

“That’s not true, Alex. Mum and Dad both love you and just want what is best for you.” Padme said clutching her stomach, “You don’t think it sucks being put on a pedal stool? I messed up, big time, Alex.”

“Hey, that’s not a mistake. Mae, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…” but Alex stopped when he caught sight of a black robe rounding a corner.

Padme followed her brother’s gaze to the end of the hallway, “What is it?” she asked.

“Go back to Mum and Dad, Mae. I need to check something out.” Alex said, grabbing her elbow to gentle move her to the side as Alex walked to the end of the hallway to round the corner where the black robe disappeared.

Still concerned for her brother, Padme followed his instructions as she returned back to the main gallery. Her dad was walking around the chariot admiring the stone horses while her mum was whistling and juggling what looked like an egg in her hand.

Rey stopped whistling as she watched her husband. He was so happy and filled with excitement, something Rey hadn’t seen in him in a while.

Ben turned around from his exploration to look at Rey, “What?” he asked her.

“You just have a certain glow about you this evening that I haven’t seen in a long time.” Rey said as she walked up the mountain of a man that was her husband, pressing Ben against the stone horse.

“I guess mummies bring out the best in me.” Ben said as he leaned down to gently kiss Rey on the lips. He was caressing her hair when they were interrupted by Professor Wilson.

“Take a wrong turn at Cairo? Sorry to interrupt.” Wilson said.

Sheepishly, Ben and Rey walked over to great Wilson as the man came into view of the gallery.

“Professor Roger Wilson.” Rey greeted as he held out her hand to the man, Wilson accepting it, “You know when Alex told me that you had gone legit, I just couldn’t believe my ears.”

“Well, now I just pillage tombs in the name of preservation. Benjamin. So good to see you, sir.” Wilson said grabbing Ben’s hand to shake it.

“Congratulations on your latest discovery.” Ben said.

“Alex deserves all the credit. He’s one hell of a kid. He’s like the son I never had.” Wilson said.

“And he’s the only son we’ve got, so the next time you send him on one of your filed trips, you give us the heads-up first?” Rey said with an edge of warning in her tone.

“Yes, yes, of course.” Wilson said, “And now I believe you have something that belongs to us.” 

“What’s that?” Ben said turning to his wife. Both Rey and Ben were feigning ignorance at what Wilson was asking for.

“Oh, you mean this?” Rey asked as she threw the eye up in the air and caught it in her other hand. She jostled the eye back and forth a little bit causing Wilson to gasp at the carelessness Rey was showing to the artifact, before she set it gently into Wilson’s hands.

Holding the eye in his hand, Wilson said, “I knew I could rely on your two.”

Padme was watching the entire interaction from the gallery entrance. She rolled her eyes at her parents. Of course, they couldn’t stay in retirement and went back to espionage. She was just about to walk in when suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind and placed a dagger to her throat.

“More forward,” the woman, Choi said, as she pushed Padme further into the gallery. There was a military general in front of her that addressed the room.

“I’m afraid your work is not done yet, Mr. and Mrs. Solo.” The general said.

“Padme!” her parents shouted at the same time at seeing their daughter being held hostage.

“I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine.” Wilson said as he pulled out a hand gun and pointed it right at Rey, “General Yang.”

Rey raised her hands when Ben cried out, “Roger!”

“Well, he is the man who financed Alex’s dig. We’re in this together. Check by jowl. General.” Wilson explained as he handed the eye to Yang.

“Search them.” Yang commanded.

Wilson walked over to Rey and started to remove the guns hidden all around her body.

“No, the eye belongs to the Chinese people.” Ben said, “You can’t do this!”

“So, Rog, you snake, how much did is it… Yin and Yang? Pay you?” Rey asked Wilson as the man threw one of Rey’s guns down on the ground.

“Enough to pull strings at the Foreign Office, make sure that it was you two who delivered the Eye. Turn around.” Wilson directed.

“The Eye contains the elixir from the Pool of Eternal Life.” Yang explained as he held the Eye up to examine it, “I need you to open it, Mr. Solo. Otherwise you will not like the consequences.” He pointed to Padme as Choi pressed the knife deeper to Padme’s throat.

“Don’t do it, Dad!” Padme shouted at her father.

“You’re going to use it to wake the Emperor, aren’t you?” Ben said as he tried to take a step away from Yang.

“And his Terracotta Army.” Wilson supplied, “At least, that’s the general idea.”

“Raising an army of mummies is insane. Listen Yang…” Rey tried to reason with the man, but he just slapped her across the face.

Ben pulled out a pocket knife that had been missed in Wilson’s search as he tried to stab Choi with it, but was unsuccessful. Choi pushed Padme on the ground, making the woman slide across the floor and hit her back up against a pilar. With Choi’s hands free from restraining Padme, she attacked Ben. The woman punched Ben in the nose, causing him to stumble backwards and bleed. Once satisfied with her assault, she turned back to Padme, prepared to kick in her the stomach.

Padme’s left hand was protectively clutching her stomach while raised her right hand to attempt to stop Choi’s assault and begged in mandarin, “Please, don’t I’m pregnant.”

Choi stopped what she was doing at Wilson’s command, “Time to open the sarcophagus. Move!”

Choi grabbed Padme by her elbow and pulled her off the ground, returning her to the choke hold that she was previously in with the dagger to her throat.

Ben turned to his daughter in disbelief, still clutching his bleeding nose, “You’re pregnant?”

Padme didn’t have time to answer as General Yang walked up to Ben and held the Eye in his face, “Read the inscription! Now!”

Rey was escorted by Wilson up to the sarcophagus and given a crow bar. With the gun still at her back, she was forced to open the lid. Ben looked at the inscription before shaking his head, “Ancient Chinese isn’t my forte.”

“Then perhaps it is your daughters,” Yang said as he brought the inscription over Padme.

“Dad…” Padme said, panic lacing her voice as her eyes were wide with fear.

“Padme, don’t! He is just going to kill us anyway.” Rey shouted from atop the chariot.

“Do what he says, sweetheart. It’s okay. I’m right here.” Ben said trying to be comforting.

Padme looked at the inscription on the eye before saying the translation, “It says, ‘only a drop of blood from a person of pure heart can open the Eye.’”

“Your Mother was right.” Yang said as he turned his gun to try and shoot Rey.

“No!” Ben shouted as he stepped in front of Yang’s target.

Yang turned to Choi and said, “Only the pure of heart would sacrifice themselves for the one they love.”

Choi pulled out a pair of hand cuffs and chained Padme to a statue on one side of the room before she came over to extract blood from Ben.


	8. The Rise of the Emperor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the Solo's have awoken yet another mummy!

“You never called after our last date.” Alex said as he found the source of the black robe. It was the woman that had tried to assassin him at the dig site a few weeks prior. She was looking down over the rail when she turned to address him.

“I don’t have times for games, Alex.” She said.

“You know my name, but I don’t know yours.” Alex said walking closer to the woman.

“It’s Lin.” She said, this time not bothering to look up from what she was observing.

“You want to explain to me why you tried to kill me?” Alex asked.

“We could do that. Or we could save your family.” Lin said.

Alex walked over to look down at that the scene that was playing out below. His mum was being held at gun point by Wilson while she was trying to open the lid of the sarcophagus of the Emperor. His dad was being held at knife point while Padme was chained to a statue.

“Wilson, you son of a bitch!” Alex whispered in disgust at his mentor.

_______________________________

After Choi had hand-cuffed Padme to the statue, she came over and aggressively removed a glove from Ben’s hand. Grabbing his wrist, she pulled a dagger from her side. Ben panicked and punched Choi in the face after attempting to disarm the dagger from her hand. He did not anticipate Choi’s quick recovery time as she was able to twist Ben’s arm back and get a clean shot at his hand.

Taking the tip of the dagger, she made a clean cut on his finger, forcing a drop of blood to land right on the Eye.

The diamond turned red as the blood that spilled on it, glowing in General Yang’s hands. The snakes that safely encased the diamond slowly peeled away to reveal sharp crystals lining the inside of the diamond where the liquid from Shangri-La was enclosed.

“Get on with it, Rey.” Wilson said waving the gun at her.

“All right.” She said with one final hit of the crow bar, she loosened the lid and slid it off the sarcophagus. Rey started coughing at the dust that flew in the air while General Yang carefully walked over to pour the liquid onto the corpse of the Emperor.

“Once this touches him, the Emperor will rise to rule again.” Yang said. He turned to Wilson and said, “Finish them off.”

That was when Alex and Lin swung down from the second level and kicked Wilson and Yang off the chariot. Yang dropped the Eye, causing the Liquid to spill onto the chariot driver.

Rey dove off the chariot and slid across the floor, grabbing one of the discarded hand guns that Wilson had tossed earlier. Still on the ground she held up the gun and searched for her target.

Ben charged towards Choi, punching her in the face. The two engaged in a hand to hand combat, exchanging blows back and forth like a violent dance. Eventually, Ben returned the favor of the choke hold and swung her into a pile of crates stacked off to the side of the room.

Alex had unchained Padme, who ran to go call the police. With her safely out of the way, he turned towards Wilson and kicked his hand, disarming him of the pistol he was using. Alex caught it in his hand and held it towards Wilson, now on the ground from the force of the kick.

“Alex, please! Don’t That’s…Please. Don’t” Wilson pleaded for his life.

Lin did a back flip into the sarcophagus and pulled a dagger from her waist. With a loud grunt, she stabbed the corpse several times with the dagger. She noticed an emblem hanging from the corpse’s neck. She picked it up and in frustration ripped it off the body. Shouting at Alex she said, “It’s not him. This is a eunuch! It’s a decoy!”

Alex put the gun away and jumped up on the chariot to look at the body with Lin. “Where the hell’s the Emperor?” He asked.

The clinking of pottery started echoing around the room as everyone turned to the watch the pieces of stone that made up the driver of the chariot break away to reveal a creature inside. The stone horses suddenly came to life as their eyes glowed deep orange like a fire.

Rey started shaking as she picked up another pistol to aim both weapons at the horses pawing their hooves on the ground. Suddenly, the chariot driver exploded, causing Alex and Lin to jump off the back of the chariot to avoid the force of the blast. Ben ran to hide by Rey to also avoid the blast while Rey simply turned her back from the explosion. She saw another gun on the ground and kicked it towards Ben.

With their weapons raised, all interested parties watched as the Emperor came alive. He was made completely of stone and all his movements showed cracks that would ignite with a golden orange flame under his stone facade.

“Here we go again.” Rey grunted as she prepared to attack the mummy. Her and Ben shot their weapons, taking the stone mask off of the Emperor’s face. Underneath was a truly terrifying image, as his skin was not that of dried bone like Imhotep’s. Rather it was charred and constantly emitting a glow of fire that would expel ash flaking off his body.

The mummy did not take kindly to the assault and like a dragon, he shot a large breath of fire from his mouth, causing Rey to fall back over some creates to avoid being burned.

Yang finally revealed himself and started shooting at Ben. Once he was confident that Ben retreated, he turned to the Emperor and said, “I live to serve you, my Lord.”

“If you are lying, you will burn.” Was all the Emperor replied as the stone reformed around his burning face. Grabbing the reins of the horse, he commanded the stone beast to charge forward.

Yang jumped up to join the Emperor when Wilson also tried to jump on the chariot, “Wait! Wait! You wait for me!” he called out, but the Emperor would have none of it. He took his hand and with the element of fire, sliced Wilson’s head off.

Alex watched the decapitation form the side, waiting for the opportunity to infiltrate the chariot. Rey and Ben were in a shoot out match with Yang while Lin slid across the floor and grabbed one of the bars to hold herself up under the chariot. Alex followed pursuit and hung next to Lin as the Emperor guided the chariot out of the museum and onto the streets of Shanghai.

Rey and Ben ran out of the museum to see if they could commandeer some transportation to catch the mummy.

“We got to put this mummy down fast. The longer we wait, the stronger they get!” Rey shouted at Ben. She yelled at the guards to open the gate. When Ben and Rey came out to the main street, they saw a man with a truck of fireworks pulling up just outside the museum.

Rey jumped in front of the truck, forcing the driver to stop. He yelled at Rey and Ben in Mandarin while Rey ran to the diver’s side door. She opened the door and pulled the driver out of the cab, “Yeah, yeah, I know. But there’s a mummy on the loose.”

Ben, who had entered the cab from the passenger’s seat, slid over to take the wheel. Rey reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a few notes and threw the money at the driver who continued to yell at Rey and Ben in Mandarin.

“You want to drive?” Rey asked Ben.

“Sure, why not!” Ben said as he restarted the vehicle.

“God, I love you.” Rey said before climbing into the bed of the truck. She hit the roof of the truck cabin and said, “Hit it, Honey!”

_______________________________________

The Shanghai police arrived some time after the mummy left the museum. Padme watched her parents and brother go after the mummy, while she stayed behind to come up with a convincing cover story for all the destruction. There was no way she was going to tell the truth that an ancient mummy had been brought back to life from the Eye of Shangri-La.

When the police sat her down and took her statement, she told them about General Yang and how it was him and his men who sought to remove the Emperor and attempt to wake him from his curse. She also said in her statement that Professor Wilson had been bribed by the General to help him with the move, until the General betrayed him. That was why the place was completely destroyed and in the mist of the violence the General took out the liability that Wilson posed by cutting off his head.

Once the scene had been blocked and evidence collected, Padme was free to go, and not a moment too soon. It was very late when she returned Imhotep’s and the events that had occurred earlier that night left her completely exhausted. The pregnancy was not helping her stay awake either.

With a mummy on the loose, she had no doubts that her family could put the creature down. But until the mummy was taken care of, she could not stay in Shanghai. She had to return to England and deal with her own problems. She had a little one to protect and could not put herself in any more danger. Surly, her family would understand once they found her in the morning and she explained her circumstances.

 _This was certainly not how I wanted them to find out_ she thought as she sat at the bar and poured herself a glass of water and waited for her family to return.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey chase the Emperor through Shanghai!

The chariot continued to move through the streets of Shanghai with the Emperor as the driver. It clearly had been awhile for he was constantly running into objects and showed no regard to avoid them.

“Watch out!” Alex called out to Lin as the Emperor hit a rack of bicycles that slid under the chariot. Lin pulled herself up to press her body flat against the underside of the chariot as the bicycles slid under her.

Once she had recovered from the near-death encounter, Lin shouted at Alex, “We have to turn you around!”

“Okay,” Alex agreed as he watched Lin pull several ropes to try and turn and loosen the chariot from the driver. She used one of them to tie around his ankle. Once she was finished, she ordered him to drop to the ground and slide around so he was facing the same direction she was facing.

Alex was having trouble trying to reach the chariot again and allowed the chariot to drag him across the ground. Lin stretched out her hand as the motion of the chariot continued to drag Alex behind it, “Give me your hand!”

He was able to reach her hand, effectively pulling him up so that he could grab the chain hanging from the back of the chariot. Together, they climbed up the back and continued their advance upon the Emperor.

_________________________________

Poe was just about to get in his car when he saw the stone Emperor come charging down the side of the street. “No! Move Over!” he yelled in English, but the Emperor ignored him.

Poe jumped over the hood of his car just as spikes from the side of the chariot reached out and scraped the side of the car. When the chariot passed, Poe scrambled to his feet and looked at the damage in disbelief. Suddenly a car horn sounded just as Ben pulled up with a truck of fireworks.

"Poe! Get in the back with Rey!” Ben shouted at Poe.

Rey leaned over the open bed of the truck to grab Poe’s hand and help him up, “Sorry about the Rolls.”

“You guys are like mummy magnets!” Poe yelled as they continued to chase the chariot.

Ben continued to weave in and out of the crazy Shanghai traffic as Poe and Rey looked through the crates in the bed of the truck. Pulling out a small rocket, Poe said, “Hey, we could use this.”

“Give me that!” Rey shouted as she used the rocket to open a bigger crate with a much larger rocker.

“Oh, yeah. That’s a better idea.” Poe said as Rey pulled the giant rocket out of the crate.

“Size counts.” Rey said when she heard Ben shout from the front cabin.

“Stop mucking about! They’re getting away!”

Poe and Rey placed the large rocket on the hood of the cabin. She shouted down to Ben, “Just drive!”

After she had the rocket positioned, she turned to Poe, “Aim for the Emperor!”

“Aim for the Emperor?” Poe shouted back.

“Light it up, Poe!” Rey commanded.

“I’m trying!” Poe shouted back as he struggled with the lighter to get the wick ignited.

Rey held the rocket steady when she suddenly shouted, “Fire!”

Poe and Ben screamed simultaneously as the rocket ignited and sprayed thousands of tiny sparks. It was on a perfect trajectory course with the Emperor. What they did not count on was the Emperor round-house kicking the rocket away causing it to land under a trolley cart. The rocket exploded causing the trolley to flip and terrorize the innocent bystanders nearby.

“Did we get him?” Poe asked as he stood up to look around for the destruction.

“Fire!” Rey shouted as she saw the back of Poe’s jacket tails on fire. She reached around to the front and grabbed Ben’s suit jacket sitting in the cabin seat.

“Again?” Poe asked in confusion.

“No! Your ass is on fire!” Rey shouted as she took Ben’s jacket to try and put Poe out, “Hold still!”

“Rey! My ass is on fire!” Poe panicked, “Put me out, Rey! Spank my ass! Spank my ass!”

“Hold still!” Rey said as she continued to try and put the fire out on Poe’s ass.

“If this were in any other context, I would have slugged you for asking my wife to spank you!” Ben shouted to Poe as he continued to drive down the street chasing the Emperor. He saw a little market off to his left and quickly jerked the truck in that direction. Ben was shouting at people to get out of the way as he mowed down stands and destroyed displays.

“Whoa! Ben! Where are you going?” Rey shouted down to her husband.

“Taking a short cut!” Ben shouted back.

Poe and Ben screamed as Ben plowed through a stone wall and got them back out onto the main road.

Rey turned around and saw the Emperor and the chariot were now behind them! Poe was on the flood of the bed of the truck while Ben shouted out to his wife, “I told you it was a short cut!”

“Right!” Rey shouted, “Now he’s chasing us!” She pulled a pistol form a holster strapped to her thigh and started shooting at the chariot as it swerved to avoid the bullets. 

General Yang returned fire till he ran out of bullets. He stopped to reload. The Emperor yelled at him to hurry up. He needed to defeat these strange enemies.

Rey reached through the rear window and shouted to her husband, “Here, give me your hand.” She dropped a handful of bullets into Ben’s hand before saying, “Don’t wait up for me.”

“Where are you going?” Ben shouted as he watched his wife jump from the bed of the truck onto one of the horses pulling the chariot.

“Out!” Rey shouted as she climbed aside the stone horse.

Poe finally came too and poked his head through the rear window at Ben, “Where’s Rey?”

“Where do you think?” Ben replied sardonically.

Rey’s gun had run out of bullets. She threw it towards the General and then pulled out a pocket knife hidden in a side pocket of her dress. She cut one of the outside horses loose while directing it to get behind the chariot. Rey saw her son and the woman hanging on the back of the chariot.

“Alex, give me the sword!” Rey shouted.

“Get back, Mum!” Alex shouted as he gestured his hand in an attempt to shoo his mother away.

“Alexander Han Solo, you get on the back of this horse this instant!” Rey shouted punctuating her command by pointing at the horse’s ass. She was not putting up with her son’s defiance.

Meanwhile, the Emperor’s eyes started to glow as he used the element of metal to command the horse Rey had stolen. She hung on with one hand while the other flew through the air like she was in a rodeo. She tried to gain control over the stone creature, but it was useless. The creature turned down an alley in a direction that was no longer following the Emperor.

Rey screamed at people to get out of the way when she saw a metal crane blocking the alley. She swung herself over the side of the horse to avoid hitting the crane, but the poor stone horse ran into the metal head on, decapitating itself. However, that did not stop the horse form continuing to move. Rey looked inside to see lava actively boiling inside the stone as she remounted herself and attempted to gain control of the creature. She ran back towards the direction the Emperor was heading to catch up with Ben and to save their son.


	10. The Adventure Awaits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Emperor gets away, but the Solo's hatch a plan. 
> 
> FYI, Padme's story is not done. We will come back and find out what happened with her at the end of the story. Thank you everyone who continues to read and comment!

“We’ve got to go back and help Rey!” Ben shouted at Poe as they continued down the streets of Shanghai. The Emperor had now caught up and was parallel to them.

“Rey! Forget Rey! Here they come!” Poe shouted in warning as he climbed through the rear window to join Ben in the main cabin. 

Ben let go of the steering wheel to try and shoot at Yang and the mummy, forcing Poe to grab it in order to keep the truck from crashing into anything. Poe watched through the rear-view window as the Emperor waved his hand to release a lid off a crate of fireworks in the bed of the truck. Seeing the fire shoot out of the Emperor’s hand, Poe pulled the truck off to the side.

In the bed of the truck, the fireworks began igniting and exploding around Ben and Poe, making it a struggle for Ben to keep the truck on track after he took the wheel back from Poe.

They were about to collide with the trailer of the chariot in the middle of the streets when the sparks of the fireworks in the bed of the truck started to fill the cabin. Ben and Poe opened their doors and jumped out of the truck just as it collided with the trailer and exploded from the fireworks.

________________________

“I’ll go after the Emperor.” Lin told Alex.

“Trust me. I’ve got a little more experience with mummies.” Alex protested.

“And I have the only weapon that can kill him.” Lin said holding up a dagger in her hand.

Relenting to her lead, Alex said, “Okay, I’ll cover you.”

Lin carefully walked down the left side of the chariot while Alex walked down the right and was firing bullets at Yang and the Emperor.

Alex ran out of Bullets just as Lin was about to plunge the dagger into the Emperor. She was standing on top of the sarcophagus when Yang shot her point-blank range. She fell back inside the sarcophagus.

The Emperor, literally, tore his stone face off and threw it at Alex, causing him to lose his balance and fall off the chariot. He was able to grab one of the chains dangling from the back of the chariot and pull himself upright. Alex continue to hang off the back of chariot, till Lin grabbed one of his arms and started pulling him up. She had survived the shot!

“I thought you were dead!” Alex shouted at her once they were both securely on the back of the chariot.

“He missed.” Lin explained.

They were not paying attention to General Yang as he pulled the hitch from the chariot. The trailer holding the sarcophagus suddenly fell forward, flinging Alex first followed by Lin as she landed on top of Alex inside the sarcophagus.

The Emperor turned the water that was on the streets into ice causing the trailer to start spinning uncontrollably down the street. Alex held on to Lin as the two screamed into the force of the trailer. They broke through a wooden wall that was blocking off a small street stage performance.

“Look out!” Lin shouted as they looked ahead to see they were about to collide with Rey on top of the headless horse.

Rey jumped from the horse and grabbed one of the banners hanging over the outdoor theater while the headless horse jumped over Alex and Lin as it was surly being called to rejoin the Emperor.

The trailer flung the sarcophagus off its bed as it continued to move forward into the streets. For now, Lin and Alex were safe. They all watched as General Yang and the Emperor got away with the Eye of Shangri-La.

They needed to re-grouped. Poe, Ben, and Rey, flagged down a cab that took them back to Imhotep’s.

The five were very dirty and their clothing was scorched from the sparks of the fireworks that went off in the truck. Rey stumbled out of the front of the cab, sore from all the fighting while Poe practically fell out of the back seat.

Rey grabbed Poe by his collar and pulled him off the ground, “Thanks, Rey! Could you get the cab?”

“Does it look like I have a wallet,” she replied as she limped inside the night club followed by Ben, Lin, and Alex. Poe paid the cab driver and turned to follow the rest of the gang into his establishment.

Padme was sitting at the bar when she looked up and saw the disheveled crew walk into the nightclub. “What the hell happened?”

“Language, young lady. And don’t think you’re off the hook for that bomb you dropped at the museum.” Rey said as she grabbed a white cloth from one of the tables. Padme turned away from her mother sheepishly as she went over to hug her brother and her father. Poe was getting buckets of Ice from behind the bar and setting them out for everyone to use for their wounds.

Rey took the first bucket and flipped it over, dumping the ice into the white cloth. She quickly wrapped it up and placed it in between her thighs, sighing in relief from the chafing the stone horse had caused. Poe also poured Rey a glass of whiskey, which she downed in one gulp.

Poe put Rey’s used glass with the ice cubes still in it up to his forehead as he took his whiskey shot directly from the bottle before turning to go sit down on the stool.

“You know, I would have killed the Emperor if you two hadn’t blown my cover. I had everything under control.” Alex said as he pulled the tie off his neck in frustration.

“Oh, yeah, that’s exactly what we were thinking.” Rey replied sarcastically.

“Yeah, well, good going, you raised another mummy.” Alex said.

“And this bugger’s got superpowers.” Poe said unhelpfully.

“He’s got control over fire, water, metal, and who knows what else!” Alex said.

“You’re missing wood and earth, but close enough.” Padme said smirking at her brother.

“And you dug him up anyway.” Rey said, judgment lacing her tone.

“Yeah, well, you’re not gonna pin this one on me, okay, Mum?” Alex yelled at his mother.

“Am I?” Rey said continuing the fight with Alex.

“Oh, stop it, you two.” Ben shouted breaking up the fight. “No one’s to blame here. Wilson manipulated all of us.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Padme said.

“I apologize for my parents.” Alex said coming over to Lin, “But I thought we worked really well together.”

“Except we failed,” Lin said mater-of-factly.

Alex’s smile dropped a little bit as Ben came over to see who was this young woman that was with his son. He already had one pregnant daughter, after all.

“I’m sorry, we haven’t been properly introduced.” Ben said holding out his hand for a shake, “Who are you exactly.”

“My name is Lin. My family has watched over the Emperor’s tomb for centuries. The Emperor cannot be killed unless he is stabbed through the heart with this.” Lin’s voice grew louder and more dramatic as she held up the dagger to show Ben. “My mother put a curse on it long ago.”

Ben nodded his head politely before turning to his son to drag him away by the arm, “Well, a quick family meeting, Alex.”

The Solo’s gathered in a circle around the bar, lowering their heads to whisper when Padme snorted, “You sure know how to pick ‘em, Alex. She’s an improvement from your last girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Alex said, shooting his sister a dirty look.

“Enough! Now, what do you really know about this girl?” Ben asked Alex.

“Well, not much, but after her help tonight, I’m willing to go on a little faith.” Alex said to the group.

“Faith…” Rey was about to say something when Lin interrupted them.

“Time is running out.” She warned as she came up behind Rey.

“You really don’t believe in the concept of personal space, do you?” Rey said as she turned to look Lin in the eye, trying to intimidate her. It had no affect on the woman.

“If the Emperor reaches Shangri-La and drinks from the Pool of Eternal Life, he will raise his army and no one will be safe.” Lin continued with her warning.

“As much as I’d like to stay this boyishly handsome forever, Shangri-La is a crock.” Poe said from behind the bar.

“Yeah, but that’s what you use to say about mummies too, Poe.” Rey said, “You did pretty well off of it.”

“Good point.” Poe agreed.

“The gateway to Shangri-La lies in a mountain pass high in the Himalayas. Beyond it is a golden tower. Once the diamond is placed at the top, it will point the way to Shangri-La. Yang still has the diamond, and that’s where he and the Emperor will go.” Lin explained.

“She’s right.” Ben agreed. “All the legends of the Eye mention the Gateway.”

“I like her, Alex. She knows what’s what.” Poe said.

Alex smirked while Rey rolled her eyes, “Now, just say that we were to believe you, could you guide us there?”

“Yes.” Lin said confidently, “I have been there once. I remember the way.”

The Solo’s all looked around at each other sharing brief eye contact when Ben said, “Himalayas. We’re going to need a plane.”

“Well, I know just the Wookie for the job.” Rey said thinking about Chewie.

“Nope, I’m going back to England tomorrow morning.” Padme said from her stool at the bar.

“I thought you weren’t leaving for a few more days, Mae?” Alex asked confused.

“That was before the Emperor woke up and destroyed parts of Shanghai.” Padme said. She dropped her gaze. Placing a hand on her stomach and softly said, “I can’t go on this journey with you. It’s too dangerous.”

“About that, I think it’s time we had a talk,” Ben said as he grabbed Rey’s hand and came to stand in front of Padme. “What happened?”

Padme raised her eyebrow at her father, “I’m sure you know how babies are made, Dad.”

“I don’t mean physically… I mean… How… what…” Ben started stumbling over his words when Rey jumped in.

“What your father is trying to say is how could you be so irresponsible? Padme, we expect something like this to come from your brother. Not you. Have you thought about what you are going to do with school? And what about the baby’s father?” Rey said, the judgment was not hidden from her tone.

Padme recoiled at her mother’s harsh words. Alex stepped forward trying to protect his sister, “Hey! No need to get judgmental. She knows this is life changing and she’s going to go back to England to talk to the father. No mater what, this is a family and we need to be supportive of Padme’s decision.”

Rey took a step back at the harsh protectiveness of Alex’s tone while Ben stepped forward. He rubbed his wife’s arms, “Alex is right. We have to let Padme make this decision. Even if it means Jonathan will now become apart of the family.”

“The baby isn’t Jonathan’s.” Padme blurted out.

“Oh, thank God! I really did not like him. You deserve someone so much better, sweetheart.” Ben said.

Everyone stopped and looked at Ben with dumbfounded expressions. “What?” He said defensively, “I’m glad that spineless dumb ass isn’t going to be my further son-in-law.”

Padme giggled, “Yeah, he was…wasn’t he. Dad, don’t worry. I…I love this man, the baby’s father. And I think…I think he loves me too.”

Ben smiled and kissed his daughter on the forehead, “I look forward to meeting him. Alex is right. We are in this with you. Whatever you decide, we will stand by you and help you.”

“Padme…. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so aggressive with you. I love you and just want what is best for you.” Rey said as she came over and hugged her daughter.

“It’s okay, mum. I know.” Padme said. After all was said and forgiven, the Solo family went back to their hotel, Lin staying with Padme of course, as they rested and prepared for their respective journeys.


	11. The Himalayas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a race to make it to the gateway where the Eye of Shangri-La will point the way to the Pool of Eternal Life! We have some snowy smut (which I don't recommend, but Rey and Ben just can't keep their hands off each other. And apparently neither can Alex and Lin lol). 
> 
> Stupa- In the Himalayas, stupa's are these little mountain towns that are famous for their spiral stone Architecture.

The Falcon rattled as Chewie navigated the old plane through the snowy, Himalayan mountains. Everyone had gotten up early to meet Chewie at the airfield and see Padme off as she traveled back to England. The five of them climbed into the back of the plane and braced themselves for the unconventional journey.

“Well, any self-respecting pilot would land on the valley floor, but I don’t have any self-respect, so I’ll put you down halfway up the mountain.” Chewie said as he approached their destination.

“That should give us a good advantage.” Ben said turning around to speak to Alex, Lin, and Poe in the back of the plane.

“Of course I can’t guarantee any of us will live.” Chewie said.

“Great!” Rey said just as one of the engines on the plane misfired, forcing the machine to drop altitude a bit.

“I’d tell you to fasten your seat belts but I was too cheap to buy any!” Chewie laughed as he turned back to look out the main window.

Rey was panic laughing when she turned to Ben and said, “Why am I laughing?”

Suddenly without any warning, Chewie dipped the plane into a nose dive shouting, “Here we go!”

Everyone screamed as they scrambled to try and hold on to something. Poe grabbed a white “air sick” bag and started taking slow deep breaths inflating and deflating the bag. He was wedged in the back next to a yak who was chewing on straw. The yak started mooing its distress causing Poe to put the bag up to her snout, “Chewie!”

Chewie had made contact with the rocky, snowy ground as he landed on the side of the mountain and was skating down the slope trying to stop the plane. Rey and Ben held each other’s hands while Lin and Alex grabbed the side of the plane for dear life.

The plane stopped at the edge of the mountain and was tilting forward by the force. “Nobody move, Nobody move!” Rey shouted at the cabin of the plane corrected itself, the tail landing safely and firmly on the ice.

“Huh?” Chewie asked the cabin.

“What is that God-awful smell?” Ben asked as he looked back in the cabin to find the source of the offending odor.

Poe was covered in straw and a green liquid when he said, “The yak yakked.” As if to agree with Poe, the Yak mooed.

_________________________________

General Yang brought the Emperor back to his compound in the Western Regions of China. He escorted him to the command center where the Emperor was studying a modern-day map of China post the second great world.

“Welcome to the modern world, my Lord.” Yang said in explanation.

“Why did you raise me?” the Emperor asked him.

“I love this land. Only you can lead us back to greatness.” Yang replied.

“What is in it for you?” The Emperor asked Yang, still staring at the map.

“I want to serve as your general.” Yang said.

The Emperor turned away from the map, part of his stone face crumpling off of his head as he said, “The last general to serve me betrayed me.” He violently shook his head, causing the rest of the mask to break off.

“I will not make that mistake.” Yang replied, keeping his eyes low as to not look at the horrifying sight of the Emperor.

The Emperor walked over to stand directly in front of Yang, forcing the general’s gaze to meet that of the cold-hearted Emperor. “I cannot escape this curse until I am immortal, General.”

Yang stamped his foot in compliance and said, “I understand, my Lord. We need to find the Pool of Eternal Life.” He held up the Eye of Shangri-La, “This will point the way.”

The Emperor roared as his stone face reformed at the sight of the Eye of Shangri-La. 

_______________________________

Lin lead the way up the mountain through a thin pass. It was completely covered in snow and made for a very difficult journey as they continued north.

Chewie remained with the plane and was cooking a stir fry on his camping burner. He was signing an old Irish drinking song when he looked out he window at hearing the sound of another plane engine.

“Delta-Tango-Alpha to Ricochet. Come in, Ricochet.” Chewie walkied to Rey.

Meanwhile, Rey grabbed the walkie from Alex to respond, “Delta-Tango-Alpha, this is Ricochet. Go ahead, Wookie.”

“Yeah, you know that Yang fellow you told me to keep me eye out for? He’s just shown up.” Chewie replied.

“Thanks, Wookie. Ricochet Out.” Rey said as she hung up the walkie. She turned back to the crew, “That’s us people. Let’s go! Poe, wake up!”

Poe was snoring on the side of the mountain, but jumped up when Rey shouted at him. Yang’s group had landed and were beginning their trek up the mountain.

Rey, Ben, Alex, Lin, and Poe spent most of the day hiking till Rey pulled out the map and yelled at everyone to hold the line. Everyone stopped and watched to see where Rey was pointing. “Good, we’re a little more than halfway. We’re gonna camp up there for the night.”

They made camp in an abandoned stupa, making multiple fires around the small town for warmth as the snow continued to fall down around them. Poe was sitting by himself next to the Yak while Alex and Ben were carrying explosives and supplies further into the stupa.

“It’s not easy being me, you know?” Poe said to Yak, “Saving the world, climbing mountains, death-defying landings. Then again, I don’t suppose it’s easy being you, is it Geraldine, old girl?”

The yak seemed to reply to Poe with a bellow so he continued his soliloquy, “If I’d met a girl like you, Geraldine, you know, hard-working, you don’t say much, you’re a little bit hairy, but I don’t mind that.”

Alex and Ben walked by Poe and just let him continue talking to the animal when Alex said to his father after setting down a box of explosives, “Lin says if we leave at first light, we’ll reach the Gateway by noon.”

Ben set down some fire wood to start another fire in the encampment when he turned over to this son, “Did she happen to mention how she knows so much about the Gateway?”

“No, not really. Kind of mysterious.” Alex replied, gently dismissing his father’s concern.

“She’s certainly managed to enchant you.” Ben said, smirking at his son. Alex tried to deny it when Ben cut him off, “Come on, Alex. You obviously like her.”

Alex got up and came to stand next to his father, pointing at the side of his forehead he said, “Dad, the thin mountain air, clearly messing with your head.”

Ben was able to get the fire lit when he started rubbing his arms to try and warm up, “Whatever secret she’s hiding, I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“I appreciate that, but, you know, I’ve had my fair share of experience with the opposite sex.”

“Really?” Rey said from behind Alex in disbelief. Alex turned to face his mother when his face dropped at his mother's next question, “How many experiences are we talking about?”

“Well, you shouldn’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to, okay, Mum?” Alex answered.

Ben was smirking. He patted Alex on the shoulder walking over to hug his wife when Rey replied, “Right.”

Alex was walking away from his parents when he stopped and turned around, “Hey, I’m sorry for blaming you guys for raising the Emperor.”

His parents acknowledged his apology, almost silently dismissing Alex as they turned to look at each other. “I have a surprise for you.” Rey said taking Ben’s hand to drag him further into the stupa.

“Oh,” Ben said waggling his eyebrows at Rey. She laughed as she pulled back a cloth hanging over a small stone room. Inside there was a small bed with a small fire burning in the room. Rey made a makeshift night stand and lit two candles to try and create a romantic atmosphere.

“It’s a fixer-upper. Next time, I’ll call ahead for a better room, okay?” She joked as she led Ben further into the small room. He took her hand and spun Rey around so that he could hold her in his arms, kissing her forehead in thanks.

“Who knows what’s going to happen at the Gateway tomorrow?” He whispered in her ear as he held Rey.

“We are going to put a mummy down. Then I’m going to take you home.” Rey replied as she gently spun out of Ben’s hold to look at his face.

Ben brought his hand to caress her cheek as Rey brought her hand up start pulling at Ben’s coat. “You think so?” He asked.

“I know so.” Rey replied assuredly. She was tugging Ben towards the bed she had made.

“Mummies are a very unpredictable lot.” Ben said as he lightly picked Rey up and set her on the Bed. He was leaning over her, his mouth hovering over hers.

“So am I.” Rey replied before biting Ben’s bottom lip and sucking on it, enticing a moan from her husband.

When she let go of his lip, Ben said, “Still this could be our last night together.”

“Better make it memorable, Sweetheart.” Rey said. She couldn’t speak anymore as Ben had eclipsed her mouth in a searing, desperate kiss while the two tried to shed their layers. If there was one thing Rey was going to do, it was make love to her husband.

It took them awhile to remove all of the layers and get down to the skin. Once free, Ben began nipping at her neck, causing Rey to moan. He went right for his favorite spot of skin to suck at that would make his wife gasp and beg for more. He happily obliged trailing large open-mouthed kisses down her sternum and in between the valley of her breast. Not stopping there, he continued further south till he was hovering just above her sex.

“Please Ben,” she gasped as he used his nose to gently nudge her entrance and bump her sensitive clit. Rey moaned again, knowing that Ben was playing with her before he latched on and started suck vigorously. Nothing could ever compare to the magic that was Ben’s mouth, well, except for his cock.

Rey was so wet that Ben was able to insert two fingers immediately, curling them just the way Rey liked it. She kept moaning, not even bothering to cover her mouth.

Ben stopped his ministrations to pull back and warn his wife in a joking manner, “Don’t wake the whole mountain up, honey.”

He went back to what he was doing as Rey was only able to nod her head. Whenever Ben ate her out, she would get so turned on that she would lose all sense of coherent thought. She was so close to her orgasm that all Ben needed to do was hit that spot in her…one…more…time…

“That’s it, sweetheart. Cum for me.” Ben said as Rey’s walls contracted around his fingers. She whimpered as the orgasm rushed through her, making her warm and her toes curl. She was so lost in the throes that she didn’t notice Ben had removed his fingers and was now hovering above her, hard and ready.

He took his cock and started to rub it up and down her slit before he gently pushed in to her. Ben moved at the pace they both preferred, causing Rey to take her jiggly legs and wrap them around Ben’s waist. They were panting as Ben took his free hand to reach in between their bodies to start rubbing at her clit.

“I don’t think I can cum again, Ben.” Rey panted.

“Yes, you can, sweetheart.” Ben whispered as he captured her mouth in another long kiss. When he pulled back, he looked her in the eye, “I know you can. Just look at me, sweetheart.”

Their eyes locked on each other as Ben continued to rub her clit. She did not look away from Ben was she crashed into her second orgasm. The contractions around his cock sent Ben over the edge, his sperm spilling inside her as he leaned down to kiss Rey in the after math of his orgasm.

Rey rolled them so that they were both on their sides, neither one of them refusing to break from the kisses they continuously shared with one another. They had a thick blanket covering their bodies as they held each other in the cold night, but it was Ben who broke the romantic spell.

“If we want to avoid frost bite, we should probably put our clothes back on.” He quietly said as he kept holding his wife.

“hmm… How romantic.” Rey said before turning up to look at her husband and then laughed. He joined her in their humor as he handed her some of her discarded clothing so they could get some sleep that night.

___________________________________________

Alex came over to warm himself over by the fire Lin was at. He looked over and smiled at her, laughing slightly.

“What’s so funny?” Lin asked.

“My parents are under the impression there’s something between us.” Alex said.

Lin dropped her face and tried to hide the hurt she was feeling when she replied, “I hope nothing romantic.”

She turned away to avoid looking at Alex when he said, “Yeah, well, I told them there was no chance of that. We’re complete opposites you and me, right? You guard tombs. I raid them. You like ancient knives. I’m into guns. Those are some pretty insurmountable odds.”

Lin and Alex were both preparing their sleeping bags as Alex continued his ramble. When he was finished, Lin had composed her face enough to hide the hurt she was feeling, but she could not quite remove the feeling from her voice when she said, “Absolutely.”

“Well, good.” Alex said, clearly angry. He got up and walked back over to the fire, “Now that we cleared that up we can focus on taking down the Emperor.”

Getting more upset herself Lin said, “I agree totally.” She stood up and started rubbing her hands together to keep them warm.

“Besides, you’re not my type.” Alex said. He couldn’t see Lin’s face which meant she couldn’t see his smirk as he got the last word in of the argument. Boy, was he wrong?

“Of course not. You don’t like a woman who can knock you on your back side.” Lin yelled at him.

Alex laughed, turning around and walked over to Lin, “The expression is ‘kick my as’. And for the record you didn’t.”

Lin tried to punch Alex, but he caught her wrist. Taking advantage of her initial shock, Alex kicked her feet out from under her and caught Lin in a dip, leaving his face inches from her mouth.

“This is a bad idea.” Lin whispered as she closed her eyes and leaned up into Alex.

“The worse.” Alex agreed as he closed the distance, kissing Lin passionately, before setting her down on her sleeping bag. He might not ever admit that he was falling in love with Lin, but he would have her for tonight, for it could be their last night and their only chance to explore this connection they felt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ship it! Do you ship it?


	12. Battle at the Gateway, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew fight at the gateway.

The sun rose above the mountain peaks rousing the crew from sleep. No one bothered to talk about the passions of the night before. It was all business until the Emperor was put to rest.

After they packed up their gear, Lin led them up a steep incline that rounded towards the top to reveal a gorge and an ice and rope bridge. On the other side was another stupa that held the Gateway.

“There it is! We found it!” Rey shouted down the line as they slowly crossed the bridge one by one.

“The Gateway of Shangri-La,” Ben said, a smile spreading across his face despite the cold wind whipping about. The city was made of stone and gold. It appeared to have long been abandoned as there were very tick layers of ice and snow that covered not only the ground, but most of the buildings as well. In the very center of the stupa, stood a large golden tower with a spot at the top that looked like it would fit the a diamond the size of the Eye.

At the rear of the line, Poe shooed the yak away back down the mountain and shouted, “Go, girl! Go! You’re free! Go, Geraldine! Live free!”

Alex and Rey dropped their respective weapons chest to compare supplies.

“What did you do now? Rob an army?” Rey asked as she looked down at her son’s weapon stash.

Alex unhooked one of the weapons that was hanging on the lid of the trunk, “Have you ever seen a Walther P38?”

He held the gun up to show his mom. Rey reached behind her and unhooked a hand gun from her belt, “Looks pretty anemic compared to the Peacekeeper.”

Rey and Alex held out their weapons to compare when Alex said, “Well, its not about size, Mum. It’s about stamina.”

“You want power?” Rey chuckled as she twirled the gun around her finger. She walked over to her chest and said, “I give you the Thompson submachine gun. Fifty rounds a drum. Twenty-five a mag. Pow Pow”

Alex nodded his head and chuckled, “Tommy’s good, Mum. But the cocking mechanism always jams. Here. Check out the Russian PPS Personal Assault Weapon. Now, this is what the future feels like.”

“You know, it’s experience that wins the day.” Rey said, “It’s not all about fire power.”

“Excuse me! If I may?” Poe said interrupting their conversation, “Do we have a plan for the Emperor?”

“Yeah. We’re gonna hit him high, hard, and fast and smash him like a Ming vase.” Rey said with conviction.

“And if that doesn’t work?” Poe asked.

“We go to plan B.” Rey said.

“What’s plan B?” Poe asked.

“Plan B! You go upstairs, you blow up that gold tower thing.” Rey said pointing to the tower in the city. “You light it up. We blow the guy sky high!”

“Me?” Poe asked exasperated.

“You!” Rey said pointing at Poe.

“Mum!” Alex said drawing Rey’s attention back to her son.

“What?” She asked.

“So if the explosion doesn’t kiss us, the avalanche will.” Alex explained.

“You got a better idea?” Rey shouted at Alex.

“Yeah. I do. I say we ambush him with long-range rifles and silencers.” Alex said.

“Yeah, that’s a better idea. Much better idea.” Poe said agreeing with Alex.

“Yeah, we can get in close, Mum. And then we can finish him off with Lin’s dagger.” Alex continued to explain his plan.

“Look, I’m sorry, I just don’t put much faith in your girlfriend’s magic dagger.” Rey said.

“Okay, Mum, she is not my girlfriend.” Alex said.

“You say that now, but I still don’t trust her.” Rey said.

“Well, I do.” Alex said, “So you should trust my judgment, okay?”

“Look, kid, I’ve put down more mummies in my time than you.” Rey argued.

“You put down one mummy, Mum.” Alex said, unimpressed as he walked away.

“Yeah. Same mummy twice!” Rey said holding up two fingers to emphasize her point.

_____________________________________

Ben and Lin were placing explosives on the Gateway tower. Ben turned to Lin and said, “Hand me the green wire, will you, please?”

Lin reached into a crate and pulled out the green wire that Ben had asked for. “Are you sure you know what you are doing?”

“Of course. I’ve done this a hundred times.” Ben said.

“If the Emperor places the Eye up there, all will be lost.” Lin said.

That was when they heard the gunshots. Yang, his men, and the Emperor had arrived and were trying to shoot their way to the Gateway.

“Clear the path to the tower. Prove yourself to me.” The Emperor said to Yang.

Yang bowed his head and handed the eye to the Emperor.

Meanwhile, Alex was wrapping dynamite while Rey aimed her Tommy Machine gun, “Let’s give a warm Solo welcome!”

Rey orders Alex and Poe to start firing at Yang’s men across the cannon. Yang’s men returned fire trying to shoot down Rey, Alex, and Ben. Ben was able to get one hit when, when Yang’s men brought out their secret weapon.

“Bazooka!” Rey shouted as Yang’s men fired the weapon towards the city. The blast caused columns to collapse, spraying stone, dust, and ice everywhere.

“Fall back, fall back!” Rey shouted at Poe, Ben, and Alex.

Yang ordered a few more shots from the bazooka to be fired before he led the assault across the iced rope bridge.

Everyone took up cover as General Yang ordered his men to line up in a fire squad like fashion and reload their bazooka’s.

“We gotta take out those bazookas!” Rey shouted over at Alex.

Alex nodded in agreement, waving over to his father and Lin to take cover further into the city. Once Rey saw that the bazookas were loaded, she counted down and then ordered Alex to follow her pursuit, Between the two of them, they were able to lay fire all over the bazooka’s causing the guns to catch fire and explode.

Rey and Alex continued to lay cover fire as Poe, Lin, and Ben retreated further into the stupa. Yang’s men continued their pursuit when Rey shouted at Poe, “Time to go to plan B! Blow up the tower.”

“I’m actually a little bit concerned about plan B!” Poe shouted back cowering behind Rey as they back pedaled further into the city, Rey keeping her gun aimed and eye trained for Yang’s men, “Couldn’t we go straight to plan C?”

“Just make it go bang! I’ll cover you!” Rey shouted at Poe.

Poe crouched down and grabbed the green wire that would ignite and blow up the tower in the Gateway. “Come on!, be good, be good” He shouted at his lighter as it failed to light the wire.

Yang’s men began firing at Poe while Alex and Ben were laying cover fire to give him more time to light the dynamites. Poe panicked and dropped the lighter into the snow as he ran away from the shower of bullets.

As he took cover, Rey spotted Yang yelling orders for his men to continue laying crossfire and to move deeper into the small stupa. She was about to spray another round of bullets when her Tommy Machine Gun jammed on her.

Rey was frantically switching back and froth between her many hand guns, when she was forced to take cover behind a half stone wall. Ben had also ducked behind the wall and was reloading his rifle, “My last round.” He shouted to Rey.

Lin had managed to evade Yang’s men and come out of the gateway into the open mountain. She shouted into the abyss in a foreign language that neither could understand. When Rey and Ben looked up and saw what Lin had conjured, there were three white hairy beasts descending upon the stupa.

Rey raised her gun and shouted to no one in disbelief, “Abominable snowmen?”

Ben, still crouching down on the ground behind the half-stone wall, placed his hand on Rey’s leg as if to stop her from firing upon the beasts and said, “The Tibetan call them Yeti’s.”

Lin spoke to the leader, asking them for their help. She explained that the soldiers were evil and would harm the Gateway. The leader growled his acknowledgment and went to attack Yang’s men.

“She speaks Yeti?” Poe said in disbelief as he lowered his hand gun.

The Yeti attack Yang’s men relentlessly while Yang ordered his men to stand their ground and kill the beasts. Their bullets had no effect on the Yeti.

With Yang’s men occupied, Poe crawled back to the tower to try and find his lighter and ignite the dynamite. “Why do I always have to save the day!” He complained as he searched the snow.

Rey stood up from her hiding spot and went to try and subdue some more of Yang’s men when her Tommy Machine gun remained locked. “I hate when the kid is right.” She said as she turned the gun into a club and began hitting and punching her target.

“Get the other guy!” Poe shouted at Rey as she took the rifle in the man’s hand and used it to shoot the other man that was coming to attack Rey.

“Thanks!” She shouted back at Poe before disarming the man and kicking him into the ground. Rey continued her hand to hand combat with Yang’s soldiers until all in her sight were subdued. Lin also joined the battle and took out two of Yang’s men on the other side of the tower.

One was about to shoot Lin, when Ben took out a long-range rifle. Suddenly, Lin shouted trouble as another soldier came around the corner of the tower. Ben held out his hands for Lin to take as he spun her around so that Lin could kick the man in the face causing him to fall to the ground.

A Yeti that was sitting on top of the roof jumped down in front of the man and growled in his face. The man began crawling on his hands and knees when the Yeti kicked him out of the city. The man went flying over the archway and down the mountain. The other two Yeti’s growled their delight, one holding up a sign to indicate “field goal.”

Alex, meanwhile found Yang, and chased him through the city. Yang suddenly stopped, and kicked Alex in the face, pushing him back against a Buddha statue. Alex got back up and tried to punch Yang, engaging him in hand to hand combat. He kicked and punched with all he had, but Yang was able to grab hold of his arm and press a boot to his neck.

“You can die slow or you can die fast.” Yang said unaware of the Yeti that was hanging upside down outside the stone room. The Yeti grabbed Yang, forcing the man to release his death grip on Alex.

Yang started yelling in mandarin and then proceeded to punch the Yeti a few times in the face. The Yeti growled in Yang’s face as he threw the general across the stupa and out of the city. The Emperor ignored General Yang as he walked up the steps and proceeded into the stupa. 


	13. Battle at the Gateway- Part 2

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Poe exclaimed as he finally found the lighter buried in the snow. After a few more click, he finally got the flame to stay and light the wire to the dynamite. Poe laughed triumphantly, “Yeah! I did it!”

Poe looked up and saw all the dynamite on the tower, realizing what this meant, “Oh, Mother, I did it! Time for a retreat. I think.”

He crawled away from the tower, but was stopped by a Yeti that was looking at Poe in confusion. He couldn’t tell if he was a bad guy or a good guy.

“I’m on your team! I’m a team player! ‘one for all, all for me’ kind of thing?” Poe said gesturing between himself and the Yeti to try and convince the beast. He then pointed at the dynamite and said that they needed to get out of there before it exploded.

The Emperor entered the stupa to see Alex and Rey in front of the tower with their rifles pointed towards him. Ben and Lin were taking up side positions while the Yeti’s took to the roofs for aerial coverage.

Alex and Rey let off a few rounds of bullets at the Emperor, blowing his stone mask off. In anger, the Emperor grabbed an icicle hanging near him and began commanding the element of water. Spikes of icicles began shooting up from the ground as they got closer and closer to Rey and Alex.

“Back off! Back off!” Rey shouted as the two continued their retreat away from the tower.

The Yetis dropped down and were advancing upon the Emperor when he cupped his hands over his mouth. A sonic wave released from his throat as it made the Yeti’s cover their ears and retreat.

The dynamite was about to blow when the Emperor commanded the snow to cover the explosives and put the fire out.

“I hate mummies! They never play fair!” Poe screamed.

Rey saw the Emperor start to climb the tower. She jumped out from where her and Alex were hiding and started to run towards the tower.

“Mum! Mum, what are you doing?” Alex screamed as he chased after his mother.

Rey climbed the other side of the tower trying to keep pace with the Emperor. Alex started shooting his weapon in the air to distract the Emperor. A fireball was formed in the Emperor’s hands has he shot it towards Alex, forcing him to run away from the blast.

“Rey!” Ben shouted as he saw his wife stand up on a level of the tower, shooting her weapon at the Emperor.

The Emperor put his hands on the tower and turned the snow into ice, forcing Rey to slip and fall off the tower. Another fire ball shot out from the Emperor’s hands that Rey ran away from to avoid.

Lin was hiding in a nook on the roof of one of the buildings as the Emperor placed the Eye of Shangri-La in the slot on top of the tower. The diamond projected a path that led to the top of another mountain in the distance.

Alex watched in dismay as Lin quickly moved into action. Poe saw the size of the diamond and gasped, “That’s a diamond. I could use a diamond like that.”

The Emperor looked down to see that Alex had a few sticks of dynamite attached to a grenade. Alex looked at the Emperor as he dropped the dynamite like a yoyo and started swinging the explosives. He was not paying attention as he released the explosives. From atop the tower the Emperor threw a sword that was aimed directly towards Alex.

Rey jumped in front of the sword to save her son’s life, the weapon piercing through her back as she pushed Alex out of the way.

“No, Mum! Okay, hold it. Hold on there, Mum!” Alex said as he clutched Rey trying to apply pressure to the wound. The force of the blast was causing snow from the top of the mountain to crash down around them.

“Please, please, put pressure on it, Mum.” Alex whispered as he tried to hold back the tears that were forming in his eyes.

“It’s all right it’s all right. We’ve been in tougher scrapes than this.” Rey struggled to say.

Suddenly, Poe shouted, “Avalanche!” as large chunks of ice and snow broke off the mountain to try and bury the stupa.

The Emperor raised his arms and used his mastery to try and stop the avalanche. Lin jumped from the roof to try and take the Emperor out with the dagger when he re-concentrated his magic. He forced Lin down to the ground when Ben ran over to grab her and cover her form the weight of the snow and ice. A Yeti covered them as the snow continued to eclipse the stupa.

“Help! Someone help me!” Alex shouted as another Yet covered him and Rey from the force of the avalanche.

The stupa was completely covered in the debris when the Yeti pulled Ben and Lin up to the surface. Another Yeti pulled Poe up from under the debris by his ankles. “Yes! I got it! And I’m still alive!” Poe screamed as he clutched the diamond in his hand.

Alex was screaming for help in a muffled voice due to the amount of debris that covered him and Rey.

“Alex?” Ben called as he was searching for where his son’s voice was coming from.

“Dad! Dad! We’re down here!” Ben heard as he ran over to the spot he heard Alex’s voice coming from. Ben started to pull balls of snow out of the way. Lin crouched down to help when suddenly a Yeti pushed through the barrier, shaking snow from its fur.

As the Yeti got out of the way, Ben jumped down into the hole to see Alex holding Rey in his arms, “Oh, God.” He said once he saw the wound on Rey.

“We’ve got to take him to Shangri-La now! It’s our only chance” Ben yelled, trying not to cry at the thought of losing Rey.

Lin nodded her head in understanding. She got the Yeti’s to create a bed to place Rey on and carry her up the path to Shangri-La. As she guided the crew, they followed further into the Himalayas in a single file line. The path was very narrow and extremely dangerous, but eventually Lin called out that they had finally made it.

There was a small black hole in the side of the mountain that she pointed up to and led them through. The Yeti’s handed off the bed to the four as they bid good bye to their new allies.

Careful to watch their step, they navigated Rey over the stones as they proceeded further into the cave. Candles were lit everywhere, illuminating the brown stone. In the center of the cave was a small, oriental gazebo with a blue liquid bubbling inside it.

There was a woman standing by the gazebo when she turned and saw the strange visitors.

Alex, Ben, Lin, and Poe set Rey down on the ground. Pulling his hood off, Alex spotted the gazebo and immediately recognized it was the Pool of Eternal Life.

“The Pool!” He exclaimed as he ran down to try and get some of the liquid to save his mother. The woman moved in intercept Alex with a sword when she was stopped by Lin’s cross with her dagger.

Lin was crying as she dropped to her knees, “Mother.” She said.

Lin’s mother smiled at the sight of her daughter as she caressed her cheek, “My sweet daughter.”

She grabbed her daughter from under her arms to pull her up and into a hug.

“I beg you,” Alex said interrupting the union, “My mother is dying.”

“They are my friends,” Lin explained.

“Oh, please.” Ben pleaded as he watched over Rey from the cave entrance.

Lin’s mother helped to bring Rey up to the edge of the pool. She took a vile and drew liquid from the well. She held the vile over the wound in Rey’s stomach as she chanted the healing spell. Ben kept his head down as he held on to Rey’s hand, praying for her recovery.

Rey suddenly started gasping for breath as the wound closed up from the effect of the liquid. Once her breathing slowed down, she opened her eyes to the sight of the strange woman and Ben crying over her.

Just as quickly as she opened her eyes, they closed at the exertion. Ben turned and looked at the woman and smiled, “Thank you,” he whispered his gratitude.

Lin’s mother bowed her head in acceptance, “She must rest. We’ll take her to my chamber.” Lin led them up the stairs to her chamber where she placed a blanket over Rey. Ben chose to stay with Rey as Alex and Poe followed Lin out of the chamber to give the couple some privacy.

_____________________________________

Back at the Gateway, the avalanche completely destroyed the rope bridge. General Yang miraculously survived the disaster and was currently pulling himself up the bridge. Below him, snow began to shuffle around as the Emperor emerged from underneath the debris.

“Where are you going, General? Our destiny awaits.” The Emperor said as he followed the Emperor up to the stupa to continue their journey to Shangri-La.


	14. Shangri-La

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I tried so hard for Shangri-La smut to happen here and it just didn't work. But enjoy the update!

After leaving the chamber, Poe decided to wander around the cave to get a better idea of his surroundings. To himself, he said, “Well, it’s not everyone that gets their sister-in-law back from the dead. Yeah, give me my four score years and ten any day.”

On the other side of the gazebo that held the Pool of Eternal Life, Poe saw an opening that revealed this beautiful, tropical paradise hidden in a valley encased by snowy mountains. It was odd to see the contrast of the green plant life with the barren snowy landscape in the distance. Waterfalls flowed freely into the rivers and the large lake that a golden temple sat on near the out reaches of the paradise. 

“Is this Shangri-La?” he asked to himself as he continued to admire the beauty of the place, but also mentally calculating the value the place could offer.

Quirking his eyebrow Poe said, “I could live here. Lots of opportunity. A casino.”

Inside the cave, Lin was speaking to her mother regarding the rise of the Emperor and what must be done to stop him.

“I was wrong to involve you in my revenge.” Lin apologized.

“No, mother.” Taking her hand, Lin said, “I would do anything for you.”

Lin’s mother was caressing her cheek again when Lin let her gaze wander to the steps where Alex just walked down. He had that charming smile on his face that made Lin’s eyes light up. She too, couldn’t help but return a smile back at the infuriating man she had fallen in love with. The interaction was not lost on Lin’s mother as she observed the love that was showing on her daughter’s face.

“She’s resting well. Thank you.” Alex said as he came closer to speak with Lin and her mother, “How did you get involved in all this?”

“My name is Zi Yuan. The Emperor murdered the only man I ever loved, Lin’s father.” Lin’s mother said as she pulled the dagger from it’s satchel connected to Lin, “I would have died, too, by his hand, if the yeti had not found me and brought me to this pool.”

“Hang on a second.” Alex asked, “How did all this happen? This was before Christ!”

Lin and her mother just stared at Alex, not answering his question. Alex turned and looked at Lin and asked, “How long have you been guarding the tomb?”

“Over 2,000 years.” She said without missing a beat.

Alex chuckled, thinking Lin was joking till he saw the look on her mother’s face. He turned back to ask Lin to explain more, but her mother said, “The Emperor must never be allowed to reach the Pool, or he will have the power to raise his army. And once he becomes immortal, he can transform himself into the most hideous creatures ever seen. I will take the first watch of the entrance.”

After Zi Yuan left Alex and Lin alone to speak, there was slight tension in the air between the young lovers. Lin was pacing nervously when Alex finally broke the silence in the only way he knew how, “You know, I have no problem dating an older woman.”

Lin turned her back on Alex, holding her hands and dropping her head to avoid looking at him, “I’m afraid we can’t be together.”

Alex placed a hand on her arm, “What? Wait, why?”

Lin turned and faced Alex. It was time he knew the truth about her, “Because I’m going to live forever. I don’t want to watch you die.”

Alex scoffed at her concern, “So what, that’s it?” He put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to his chest, forcing her to look up and into his eyes. “You’re just gonna sit on the sidelines for all eternity?”

“My mother has mourned my father for centuries.” Lin said as she brought her hand up cup Alex’s cheek. “I don’t know if my heart can bear it.”

“People can live an entire lifetime in one look.” He took his thumb and gently pinched her chin to keep her gaze up and on him. After bringing his hand to cup the back of her neck, he said, “I watch my parents do it every day.

Lin leaned forward and met Alex’s lips as they gently brushed. The electric current that ran between them terrified but excited Alex. It was one he wanted to explore more since the night before when they were interrupted by Poe whisper shouting from Zi Yuan’s chamber.

“Alex, your mother is awake. Get up here!” Poe said.

_______________________________

Ben was laying on the bed with Rey leaning up against his chest as he continued to stroke Rey’s hair. She turned and blinked her eyes a few times as Ben’s face became clearer in her vision. Ben sent Poe out of the room and then looked back down at his wife.

“Hello.” Ben said, smiling as he leaned down to kiss Rey.

When they broke apart Rey said, “If this is heaven, it looks pretty good so far.”

Smiling, she reached back up and continued to passionately kiss Ben. He ran his hands down her arms and the side of her body as Rey turned in his grasp to straddle him. They were vaguely aware of someone clearing their throat when they heard Alex say, “Nice to see some things never change.”

Ben and Rey quickly broke apart when they saw their son standing in the doorway of the chamber. Smiling sheepishly, Rey climbed out of Ben’s arms and off the bed to face her son. Ben followed suit handing Rey her shirt.

“Go easy on him. He feels terrible.” Ben whispered stepping aside to give mother and son time for a much-needed conversation.

Alex walked over to his mother on the other side of the bed. He turned to her and said, “When I saw you lying there, Mum…I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

“Well, that makes two of us.” Rey replied.

“I mean, you know, you’re not supposed to die, you know? You’re Ricochet Solo, right?” Alex said slightly choked up, “You get beat up, you get tossed around, but, well, you’re always standing there in the end. I never really thought of the world without you.”

Rey started shedding some tears when she looked her son in the eyes, “Alex, the truth is, I’m just trying to be a good mother. I’m just trying to be a good parent. And the truth is, I’ve been dropping the ball lately. Between not handling the news of your decision to drop out of school and then this whole mummy mess…”

“No, you know, I haven’t been the world’s greatest son, you know?” Alex replied

“No, no, that’s because you get it from his side of the family. But what I’m trying to say is I love you, for you. And I’m proud of you, Alex. You’re my son! How could I not be?” Rey said.

Alex embraced his mother, the demons of the past were slowly being let go as the two reconciled their differences. “I’m sorry that I ever made you feel like Padme was better than you.”

“It’s okay, mum.” Alex said, refusing to let go of his mother. Ben came over and hugged both of them, his large arms encompassing the two into his bear like grasp.

________________________________

“You look tired. You should rest.” Zi Yuan said to her daughter as she stood in front of the Pool of Eternal Life.

“I’ll stay.” Lin said ignoring her mother’s request.

Zi Yuan looked up at her daughter as she said, “Fate is about to deal its final hand. If we are to defeat the Emperor, I must ask for one more sacrifice.”

“Anything, mother.” Lin replied.

“Your immortality.” Zi Yuan said. The look on her daughter’s face was all the confirmation she needed to know that she would be happy to have the chance to spend a life with the man she had come to fall in love with.

Suddenly, a fireball blasted through the cave straight towards Zi Yuan and Lin. Zi Yuan pushed her daughter out of the way as the force of the blast knocked Zi Yuan in the opposite direction. The flames exploded around the gazebo as General Yang and the Emperor entered the cave.

From up above in Zi Yuan’s chambers, Ben, Rey, and Alex looked down to see what had caused the explosion.

“Oh, no! His powers have been fully restored!” Ben shouted.

“Time to go.” Rey said as she led the crew out the room and down the stairs to help Lin and Zi Yuan face the Emperor.

Zi Yuan was crawling across the stone floor, trying to reach the dagger that had fallen loose from Lin’s belt, but she did not reach it in time. The Emperor summoned the dagger and used it to break the stone all across his body, revealing the chard flesh. Zi Yuan continued to crawl while the Emperor smirked at her as he walked towards the Pool of Eternal Life.

As the Emperor was walking to the Pool, he looked over at the girl he did not recognize. Snarling, he said aloud, “General Ming’s daughter.” He turned back to Zi Yuan and threatened that Lin would be his as he stepped into the Pool of Eternal Life.

The pool glowed all around him as his body and powers were restored. General Yang gasped as he said, “He is immortal.”

The Emperor emerged whole from the pool as he turned into a horrifying creature. He now had two more heads attached to long lizard necks and wings that had grown on his back. The Emperor howled as his skin turned completely into scales and his teeth became sharp fangs. He completely destroyed the gazebo as his heads breathed fire at his advisories.

Alex, Rey, Ben, and Poe ducked behind rock and out of the line of fire from the Emperor’s assault when Poe shouted, “Hey! You three-headed shape-shifting son of a bitch!”

Lin was trying to get away from the creature the Emperor had turned into, when one of his heads hit her in the back and grabbed her with his new claws.

“Lin!” Alex shouted as he tried to run and rescue Lin. The Emperor heard him and used one of his other heads to knock Alex back across the room.

General Yang started running to keep up with the Emperor as he left the cave, strategically jumping onto the Emperor’s back. Lin was shouting for Alex as the Emperor continued to growl, spreading his wings, and taking off through the mountains.

“He’s taking her back to his tomb to raise his army!” Zi Yuan said as she started running towards the cave entrance.

Alex ran up along side her, “Is there a faster way down there?”

“The Yeti. They’ll help.” Lin explained.

“But he’s already in the air. It’ll be too late.” Ben explained coming up to join Alex and Zi Yuan.

“Chewie can outfly a three-headed lizard any day of the week! Let’s go!” Rey said as the rest of the crew followed her out of the cave to enlist the help of the Yeti to get back to Chewie.


	15. Rise of the Terracotta Army

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And let the final battle begin!

Chewie had them up in the air in record time as everyone was keeping their eyes in the sky for the Emperor in his three-headed dragon form while he carried Lin.

“Portside! Nine O’clock!” Chewie called as he spotted the creature Rey told him to look out for. Alex and Rey followed his gaze to see the dragon flying at a steady pace.

Chewie looked back at Rey and asked, “Rey, should I quit drinking?”

Rey didn’t say anything, nor did she offer an explanation as she shook her head ‘no’ at Chewie.

_____________________________

They flew all night and landed in a gully somewhere in the western regions close to the tomb. Once Rey, Ben, Alex and Zi Yuan had gathered their weapons and supplies, Chewie took off to circle and provide aerial coverage and get reinforcements.

“Poe to Rey. You’d better get a move on if you’re gonna beat him to the tomb!” Poe said over the walkie as he stayed back with Chewie and the plane.

“Yeah, yeah, just get back here as fast as you can with the reinforcements. No sightseeing!” Rey said over the walkie before slamming the phone down.

“Here, Mum.” Alex said handing Rey a machine gun.

“Is that for me?” Rey asked. Alex nodded his head and she replied while accepting the weapon, “Nice!”

“The Terracotta Army is not indestructible until it crosses the Great Wall.” Zi Yuan said to Ben as they prepared their weapons.

“That’s comforting. How exactly are we supposed to fend them off?” Ben asked as he cocked a hand gun and placed it in a satchel hanging off his back.

“When the Emperor built the wall, he buried his enemies underneath it and cursed their souls to hold it up for eternity. Most of them were conquered soldiers. I will call them to battle once again.” Zi Yuan explained.

At this point, Rey and Alex had joined them and caught most of the battle plan. Rey cocked a hand gun and said, “Unlock an alter, raise an army. That sounds like a plan. Let’s go.”

_______________________________

Back at the tomb, Choi had moved the General’s men to relocate their camp to be situated in front of the tomb. They had spent the past few days preparing for the arrival of them Emperor.

One of the soldiers started banging on a can to signal that the Emperor was arriving. Choi quickly ordered the men to attention while the Emperor landed. General Yang jumped off of his back while Lin tried to run away.

Three of Yang’s men grabbed her and pulled her towards a tent, “Guard her with your life.” Yang ordered.

Once Choi had the men lined up, she followed behind General Yang as they stopped at attention to greet the Emperor. He flew in flapping his wings and landing on the head of his tomb before changing back into his human form.

Raising his sword, he shouted, “Awake!” commanding his terracotta army to emerge from the tomb. Several hidden trap doors opened in the ground that formed a ramp for the army to march out on and into the sunlight. 

Rey, Ben, and Alex were watching the scene from behind some rocks in the near distance from the camp. Rey set her binoculars down and whispered, “Alex!” When her son didn’t reply, she looked over and saw that he was gone. “Where’d he go?” she said turning to look at Ben.

“Where do you think?” Ben asked as he crawled a little higher on the rock to get into a better position.

Rey put the binoculars back on and what she saw should not have surprised her. Alex was running and ducking behind other rocks to get closer to the tent Lin was being held in.

Ben and Rey turned their focus away from their son as they lost sight of him in the camp, and saw the terracotta army advancing on their location. They had their guns at the ready, prepared to engage the army when they suddenly stopped and turned about face, awaiting the Emperor’s orders.

“Today you awake to a world in the grip of chaos and corruption.” He said as Yang’s men and the terracotta army saluted in respect to the Emperor as he made his battle speech.

“I will restore order. I will retake what is mine. I will crush any idea of freedom. I will slaughter without mercy. I will conquer without compassion. I will now lead you past the Great Wall. Once you cross, you will be indestructible. I raised you for one purpose, to enforce my will on the entire world!”

The Emperor’s speech was met enthusiastically by the two armies as they chanted, “Long live the Emperor!”

______________________________________

Zi Yuan entered a round entrance under the crumbling wall that led her down into the tomb. She went through several pathways till she found the base where the Emperor practiced his magic. The ceiling was covered in the bones of the enemy army that she would awaken to stop the Emperor.

She took the oracle and threw it up in the air, casting it in an arch so that she could recite the incantation.

“Open the gates of the past and free the souls of the wrongfully damned. In the name of the ancestors and the righteous, I sacrifice my immortality and that of my daughter so that you may rise this day! Bring down the wrath of the oppressed on this Emperor and all who follow him!”

The ground began to crumble as Zi Yuan’s spell was working in raising the undead army. She continued, “I call upon the hundreds and the thousands that you may rise up and seize this moment to take your victory, to take your justice, and to take your revenge!”

The skeletons were popping out of the wall, the force of the spell creating a chasm on the surface. Not only would the terracotta army have to fight the undead soldiers, but they would have to cross the newly formed trench as well before crossing over the wall.

On the surface, the Emperor got down from the top of his tomb and was on his horse when he watched the chasm form. “Zi Yuan.” He whispered as he steadied his horse through the aftershocks of the ground.

Rey and Ben were holding on to some stone while the undead army emerged from the chasm. They were chanting to follow General Ming as the Emperor’s former general lead them to attack the terracotta army.

“Prepare for battle!” the Emperor commanded upon seeing the sight of the army lead by General Ming.

Rey was pointing her shot gun at the undead soldiers while they surrounded Rey and Ben. “They’re good undead guys, right?” Rey asked her husband.

Ben nodded his head yes when he turned to see General Ming running towards them with his sword raised. “No, no, no!”

“Zi Yuan! Zi Yuan! Zi Yuan sent us!” Rey shouted at General Ming.

“Darling, I don’t think he speaks English.” Ben said trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

“Zi Yuan!” Rey said again.

“Zi Yuan?” General Ming said, lowering his sword.

“Right!” Ben said as General Ming ordered the undead army to not attack Rey and Ben and to continue their advance upon the terracotta army. General Ming was shouting at the undead army about freedom as they saw the archers in the distance forming up.

“Incoming!” Rey said as she grabbed Ben to take cover behind a large stone formation. An arrow sliced through the sleeve of her shirt. “Hey! That’s my favorite shirt.”

Ben pulled the arrow out of the stone where it landed, “I’ve always hated that shirt.”

They watched as the undead army quickly recovered from the wave of arrows that pierced through their ranks, pulling the arrows from their skeletons. General Ming raised his sword at the Emperor. The undead would not be defeated so easily.

“Death to General Ming!” the Emperor cried out on his horse as he pointed his sword at General Ming.

The armies advanced, ready for the clash on the battle field.

__________________________

Alex had managed to sneak into General Yang’s camp undetected and stole a uniform in order to sneak past Lin’s guards. He took the butt of his machine gun and knocked them out before quickly entering the tent she was being held captive in.

Lin was laying on a cot, her mouth had a cloth tied around it and her hands and feet were bound. She looked up and saw Alex pulling off the helmet and bandanna on his face. He knelt down and sat Lin up, pulling the cloth off of her face. He placed a finger to his mouth to indicate for her to remain quiet as he untied her hands and feet.

“You came for me.” She whispered as she pulled her hands free from the ropes.

“Couldn’t let the Emperor, steal my girl.” Alex said, shooting her a cocky smile as he undid her feet.

When he was finished, she pulled Alex up and kissed him. After a few seconds he reluctantly broke away, placing his hand on her cheek he said, “You'll never be alone, Lin.”

"Neither will you." She replied.

"Come on," Alex said, grabbing her hand and pulling her up off the cot. 

They split up and flanked a side of the main rode of the camp, waiting for a vehicle to cross their path. Two motorcycles were charging down the road when Lin and Alex jumped from their hiding spots and round house kicked the drivers off the motorcycles so they could join the battle.


	16. Divide...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a hip grab in this chapter! LOL

Rey mounted a machine gun on a rock that her and Ben were hiding behind. “Welcome to the 21st century,” she said as she fired off round after round. The bullets shattered the stone soldiers upon contact, easily wiping through the Emperor’s ranks. Ben was next to her with his hand guns helping in what ways he could.

They continued their assault, but the Emperor’s terracotta army was vast and the soldiers kept coming. They were now close enough that they could easily throw their weapons at Rey and Ben, forcing them to duck.

“Honey! Fall back to higher ground!” Rey shouted at Ben as she threw a grenade.

Rey and Ben were back to back as they shot at the terracotta army soldiers that were close enough to engage in hand to hand combat.

“I really hate mummies!” Rey shouted as she fired a shot after each word.

“It seems the feeling’s mutual!” Ben shouted back as he was trying to take the soldiers out with his hand guns.

A terracotta soldier with no legs was crawling towards Ben to try and take him out. When Rey noticed him, she used the butt of her machine gun to take off his head, “Shut up clay boy!”

“Run!” Ben said as they ran up the worn stone stairs to get away from the terracotta army. At the top of the pathway, Rey and Ben continued firing their weapons till they ran out of bullets. Rey noticed two swords on the ground and picked them up with her foot. She threw one to Ben as they reformed and stood back to back again while the soldiers continued to advance.

“Next time I say, ‘we’ve been in tougher scrapes than this,’ I mean this!” Rey shouted as she grabbed Ben’s hip and used his back as leverage to kick one of the soldiers away.

They were forming a circle around Rey and Ben as they advanced, raising their weapons to attack. Rey and Ben continued to slice and cut the terracotta soldiers, trying to keep them from crossing the wall when they looked up and noticed Chewie flying in with another plane on its tale.

“Poe certainly knows how to make an entrance!” Ben shouted at Rey as they watched the planes fly in low, wiping out most of the army with their assault.

Ben and Rey were completely worn out, but the terracotta army was still advancing. They were leaning on each other when Ben whispered in Rey’s ear, sensing this was the end, “Any regrets, darling?”

“None, not ever.” Rey said as they prepared for what they thought would be the end, when they suddenly heard gun shots coming from down below the wall. Alex and Lin were firing on the soldiers that were trying to trap Rey and Ben from the motorcycles they had stolen from the camp.

_________________________________

General Ming was leading the charge of the undead army when he shouted, “They must not cross the wall.”

The armies clashed, dust and dirt rising all around the soldiers as they fought hand to hand. Zi Yuan was standing upon a small hiss in the distance, her sword in hand, watching and waiting for the Emperor.

The Emperor was riding on his horse, slashing effortlessly through any undead solider who dare attack him when he spotted Zi Yuan. Jumping off his horse he ran at full speed with his sword raised to challenge the witch whom cursed him.

They parlayed for quite a while, the clink of metal ringing through the battle field as their swords clashed. Zi Yuan was able to slice off some of the Emperor’s hair in one swipe, till the Emperor forced her into a back flip. After regaining her footing, she was barely able to block the Emperor when he nailed a swipe across her abdomen.

Zi Yuan crouched down putting her hand to her stomach and pulled it back to see blood spewing from the wound.

The Emperor smiled manically, “You are no longer immortal.” He yelled and tried to bring a hard blow upon Zi Yuan, which she blocked even in her weakened state.

She jumped out of the way and then advanced upon the Emperor again. He was able to slice his sword completely through her own, swinging it to his left to disarm her. The Emperor lunged to kill Zi Yuan, but she stopped the force of the blade by catching it in between her two hands.

Zi Yuan was struggling to hold on to the blade when she looked down at the Emperor’s belt to see the dagger she had cursed in order to kill him. She let go of the blade and impaled herself, grabbing the dagger. The Emperor, in his fury of being denied the opportunity to kill Zi Yuan himself, pushed her body off his sword and threw her off the hill they had dueled upon.

_______________________________

Poe and Chewie had managed to get one ally to come help wipe out the terracotta army. They were flying in low, the battle well underway by the time they got back to Western China. Chewie had some front guns loaded, while Poe had the side door open. He had a machine gun in hand and googles over his eyes as he shouted down, “Die, you mummy bastards! Die!”

“There is no call for bad language!” Chewie shouted at Poe from the cockpit.

They continued to fly low, trying to take out as many of the soldiers as they could, when they spotted Choi in a jeep with a machine gun. She pointed it directly at Chewie’s plane and fired, forcing Chewie to turn about face and avoid much of the hits.

Poe held on to the side of the plane for dear life, as Chewie tilted it. Once it was corrected, Chewie yelled back at Poe, “Remember our deal! When this is over, my men get to drink for free!”

“You can have the whole damn bar for all I care!” Poe shouted, “I’m getting the hell out of China.”

______________________________

Choi stopped the jeep next to General Yang. She turned over and yelled at him to get into the jeep, “The Solos are going to stop the Emperor!”

General Yang jumped into the back of the jeep and ordered the driver towards the tomb’s entrance. They heard a strange noise coming from above them, but realized too late what it was. Poe had thrown a bomb directly at Choi and Yang, exploding the car and anything else caught in the vicinity.


	17. ...And Conquer

Rey climbed aboard Alex’s motorcycle while Ben got on the back of Lin’s. Alex handed a Tommy machine gun to Rey and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sure, no problem!” Rey said as she mounted the bike and cocked the gun.

“We had it completely under control.” Ben said.

Alex looked over to the see the Emperor changing into a beast heading for the tomb entrance. “Does this guy ever run out of tricks?”

Lin was looking over at a spot on the wall, where she saw her mother on the ground, struggling and bleeding out, “Mother, no!” she shouted as she jumped off her bike to run over and help her mother.

Ben, Alex, and Rey all ran after her to see if they could help. Lin held her mother and was whispering to her in mandarin when Ben knelt down and saw the wound in her stomach. It was too great for them to save her. It would only be a matter of minutes before Zi Yuan perished.

Zi Yuan pulled out the dagger she had hidden under her body and handed it to Lin. “Pierce through his heart. You must live and fight on.

Lin held her mother and cried over her body as she passed. Ben took the dagger from Zi Yuan’s hand and gave it to Rey.

“She said through the heart.” Ben said.

“Through the heart. Let’s go.” Rey said turning to Alex as they left to chase after the Emperor.

Rey drove the motorcycle towards the tomb entrance while Alex hung off the back shooting at mummies as they tried to attack them.

“So, Mum, What’s the plan?” Alex asked.

“Divide and conquer!” Rey shouted.

“No offense, but isn’t that a little short on detail?” Alex asked. Rey didn’t have an answer for her son when he suddenly shouted out, “12 o’clock, low!”

“Hang on!” Rey said as she kicked the motorcycle into a higher gear. Choi and General Yang were coming in hot on their tail.

_________________________________

The Emperor entered his tomb, walking along the rafters as he activated the ancient wheels and levies. He reached the staircase that would take him to where Zi Yuan had cast her spell to raise the undead army. Raising his hands, he lit the pathway with fire as he climbed the stairs with the intention to negate Zi Yuan’s spell.

Raising his arms, he called upon the five elements as their elemental representations spun in a circle above the alter. The effect caused the undead soldiers to polarize back towards the wall allowing his soldiers to advance. He was so focused on the spell that he didn’t notice Rey and Alex had entered the chamber.

Rey and Alex took up positions on either side of the Emperor as they watched him levitate five balls made out of different materials. Alex raised his newly loaded pistol and shot a few of the balls, forcing the Emperor to stop his spell and walk down the stairs.

“I dug you up and I’m gonna put you down.” Alex said as he kept his pistol trained on the Emperor.

With a battle cry, the Emperor turned into a large hairy beast and attacked Alex. He took his arm and in one large swoop, flung Alex across the room.

With Alex’s distraction, Rey was able to get behind the Emperor. She jumped from the stairs with the dagger in hand as she slammed the blade into his back trying to make contact with the heart. Rey did not pierce it deep enough when the Emperor flew her off of his back, causing her to hit the side of the wall and knock over a pail of fire upon impact.

Rey was struggling to get up, till she saw Alex laying down with a bloody nose and his eyes closed. After watching the Emperor trying to pull the dagger out, she got up and ran over to Alex, shaking him to try and wake him up.

The Emperor had morphed back into his human form and used his right hand to pull the blade from his back. He threw the blade at Rey, which she narrowly avoided. The dagger collided with a stone dragon statue, causing the metal to break in half and land on the ground.

Enraged, Rey got up and yelled at the Emperor, “Enough tricks! Where’s your honor?” she jumped up on the feng shui compass and beckoned at the Emperor while she yelled, “Fight like a man!”

The Emperor squinted his eyes at Rey as she jumped off the compass and ran towards him. They threw a few punches back and forth when the Emperor nailed Rey in the stomach and elbowed her in the face. She quickly recovered and landed a few blows herself, but the Emperor was stronger and faster than she was. For every hit she landed, the Emperor would land three on her.

Alex was rousing from the effects of being knocked him out by the Emperor. He stood up and saw his mother and the Emperor fighting when he looked over and saw the dagger broken on the ground. He picked up one of the blades and drew a division sign in the sand before jumping in the canal and swimming to the other side.

The Emperor knocked Rey on the ground and kicked her back across the room. She rolled on her stomach and spit some blood out of her mouth when she saw the hilt of the dagger and a division sign drawn in the sand.

“Divide,” Rey whispered as she picked up the blade and stood up, “and conquer.”

The Emperor tried to punch Rey in the face again, but she ducked out of the way and head butted the Emperor, causing him to stumble back. Alex just emerged from the canal with the blade in his mouth as he watched his mother continue to head but and elbow the Emperor in the face.

Rey pulled the dagger out and tried to stab the Emperor in the heart again, but he grabbed her hand to stop her. The Emperor twisted Rey’s arm, causing the shoulder to snap a bit when she looked up and saw Alex jump off the stairs. He shoved the blade deep in the Emperor’s back, piercing his heart forcing the man to let go of his hold on Rey. She took advantage of her freedom and shoved the dagger through the center of the heart in the Emperor’s chest. 

___________________________________

After Ben had allowed Lin a few more moments to grieve the loss of her mother, the two followed the path that Alex and Rey had taken to enter the tomb. There were large wooden wheels that were turning despite their age and the cob webs that were coating the contraction.

Ben has his pistol raised as the two scanned the area, when they were suddenly hit in the back by General Yang’s feet as he kicked them from above. Ben tried to recover and swipe General Yang’s feet from under him, but Yang used Ben’s legs as leverage to push him up against one of the wheels, effectively getting him in a choke hold.

General Yang’s face was charged and bloody as he gritted his teeth to try and choke the life out of Ben. Meanwhile, Ben was trying to grab anything on the side of the wheel to help him break the choke hold. He was able to grab a spoke that gave him some more height when Lin came up and kicked General Yang in the side, forcing him to let go of Ben.

Ben was trying to maneuver around the wheel while Lin was fighting General Yang. That was when Choi came around the corner and saw the scene play out. Lin had kicked General Yang so that he was in the path of two wheels that came together. While General Yang was distracted by Lin, Ben had managed to jump up on one of the levies and round house kick Yang so that he was trapped in between the two wheels.

Choi ran to her commander and tried to pull him out of the path of the two wheels, but it was too late.

“Let go!” General Yang yelled at her.

“Never!” Choi yelled back as she too got caught in the wheel’s path and was crushed between the two along with General Yang.

“Let’s go find the Emperor.” Lin said.

“Right.” Ben said as the two left and went to search for Rey and Alex.


	18. Love conquers all

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last real chapter before the epilogue. We also find out what happened to Padme! I absolutely adored writing the catch up and hope you all enjoy it as well.

The curse that Zi Yuan had placed on the dagger activated when the two blades connected in his chest as the Emperor fell to the ground. Rey pulled the dagger out and saw the two ends glowing orange and melted together.

As the Emperor started groaning in pain, Rey and Alex turned around and saw Ben and Lin run up to meet them. Lin ran to Alex’s side, Alex wrapping his arms around Lin while Ben embraced his wife before turning to see the Emperor melting.

Rey let go of Ben and yelled at the Emperor, “Now you can rule in hell.”

The four slowly backed away as the Emperor melted into his former clay composite before completely being disintegrated by lava. No form was left as his soul was cursed to the remain in the after life for the rest of eternity.

Above ground, the Emperor’s terracotta army that was advancing upon the undead army just suddenly fell apart and was reduced to nothing but piles of stone. The debris turned into dust and was sucked back into the Emperor’s tomb.

“The Emperor is dead!” General Ming shouted to his army as the mummies cheered their victory over their tormentor.

Rey, Ben, Alex, and Lin walked out of the tomb to see the mummies celebrating when Lin spotted General Ming. He looked at his daughter for the first and last time before he and the army, too, turned to dust and disappeared back into the wall.

___________________________________

Poe had Chewie land the plane so that Rey, Ben, Alex, and Lin could board and go back to Shanghai. After some much needed rest, they all met at Imhotep’s for a dancing and a drink. The singer had the band slow the beat down as she sang, “My Sweet Eternal Love.”

“Evening, girls. You’re looking well.” Chewie said in his new blue suit jacket as he passed a pair of young Chinese women.

“Good evening, Mr. Chewbaca.” They said as they giggled and continued through the club.

Chewie, suddenly very warm, adjusted his bow tie and said to himself, “It’s a fine night to be me.”

Alex pulled Lin out on the dance floor and held her close, wrapping one arm around her waist and another to hold her hand close to his heart. He was a little self-conscious about the bruise under his eye considering how breath-takingly gorgeous Lin looked in her fitted, red sequence dress, but the smile she gave Alex was all the confirmation he needed to know how much she loved him.

He smiled back at her and said, “You dance great for an old lady.”

Lin chuckled and said, “Someone told me to stop living on the sidelines.”

“Well, he sounds like a smart guy.” Alex said, his cocky smile only getting bigger.

“He is, and I’m in love with him.” Lin said. She couldn’t speak any more as Alex brought their lips together, encouraging Lin to wrap her arms around his neck to bring him closer.

When they broke apart Alex had a worried look on his face, “What’s wrong,” Lin asked.

“Will you come to London with me?” Alex asked. He was so nervous Lin would say no.

Lin smiled and placed her hand on Alex’s cheek, “Yes.”

Across the dance floor, Rey’s head was tucked into the crook of Ben’s neck as he leaned his head on top of his wife’s. They were slowly swaying to the song; Ben dressed in a wonderfully form fitted tux while Rey had this silver sequence dress that she was not tripping over in the heals she wore.

Rey just kind of slightly nudged her nose into Ben’s neck as she asked, “So I guess Dash and Scarlet have their next adventure?”

Ben lifted his head so he could look at Rey and smiled, “Why write about it when you can live? There’s something incredibly romantic about vanquishing the undead.”

“Even more romantic doing it with you,” Rey said as she lightly bumped Ben’s nose causing his smile to brighten a bit.

“Kiss me.” Ben commanded.

“Don’t have to ask me twice.” As their lips met in a passionate kiss on the dance floor.

Outside, Poe was rushing to get out of the club and out of Shanghai. The valet asked him if he could get his bags, which Poe promptly pushed him away.

“No, no don’t touch it, don’t touch it.” Poe said as his cab pulled up on the curb.

The valet opened the door of the cab for Poe to climb in, “Where are you off to, Mr. Dameron?”

“Someplace where they don’t have mummies.” Poe replied as the door closed behind him. “Step on it! I’ve got a plane to catch.” Poe said to the driver

“Yes, sir.” The driver replied.

In the back to himself, Poe said, “Yeah. Ciao Ciao, Shanghai. Peru, here I come.”

Poe opened the bag and pulled out the Eye of Shangri-La, admiring the diamond that would fund his next business.

___________________________

England- One Month Ago.

Padme got off the plane in London, happy to be home and back in more familiar places. She raised a cab that took her to Oxford and her parent’s estate. Climbing out of the cab, she looked over the outside, still in pristine condition. “At least it wasn’t destroyed like last time.”

The driver carried her bags into the foyer and bid her a nice day when Maz came around the corner and saw Padme. “Ms. Solo, how are you? Are you not supposed to be in Oxford to finish your schooling?”

“I’ll be leaving in the morning. I could really use your help packing some essentials.” Padme said.

“I will have Mr. Teedo prepare and pack your truck, Ms. Solo.” Maz said as she followed Padme up the stairs to her room.

“Thank you, Maz. Would it be too much trouble to ask for some tea?” She asked.

“Certainly not, Ms. Solo. I’ll have your favorite brewed and up in just a moment.” Maz replied.

“Thank you!” Padme said as she entered her bedroom. Most of her boxes from school remained unopened as she packed and moved everything out fairly quickly before running off to China to her brother. She simply needed to pack her clothes and have the one’s from China laundered.

She was folding some of her dresses up to place in a trunk when she looked down at the fabric. _Soon, these won’t fit._ She thought as she placed a hand on her stomach.

Maz came into her room and set the teat tray down, trying to get Padme’s attention, but the girl was clearly dazed.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Padme apologized to Maz and continued to pack when Maz placed a hand on Padme’s shoulder, “What’s on your mind my dear?”

Padme bowed her head and explained what was happening and what she would be doing tomorrow. Maz simply listened without judgment and offered her the cup of tea that she had asked for. Padme took it gratefully while Maz told her to be brave, for no matter what happened, she would be loved and have a home. Padme smiled as she set her tea down and continued packing with Maz.

_______________________________

Padme pulled into the apartment complex with Mr. Teedo as he loaded her furniture and boxes while she unpacked. She would have to attend class later that afternoon and then at night, she would have to go find Anakin.

The day, luckily, seemed to go by quickly as Padme busied herself with unpacking and her class when she walked off campus and headed toward Anakin’s home. She stood on the front steps of the town house, taking a deep breath to find the courage to knock on the door.

Walking up the few steps, she knocked three times and waited. She heard footsteps coming towards the door and then looked up and saw the door open to reveal Anakin. His hair was unkempt and his sleeves were rolled up with no jacket on. Seeing her, he smiled and quickly grabbed her hand pulling her inside his home.

He shut the door and then brought his hand up to cup her cheeks and push her up against the wall, kissing her passionately. He was not gentle as he pushed his tongue inside her mouth and then started nipping at her bottom lip.

Padme returned his feverish kisses in kind till they both broke away and started panting as they each caught their breath.

“I missed you,” Anakin said as he leaned his forehead against hers. He felt Padme trembling under his touch, “And from what it feels like, you missed me as well.”

“Anakin, wait…” Padme said as she gently pushed him off.

He looked at her in confusion, waiting for her to speak. Padme started ringing her hands together as she walked deeper into the house and into the kitchen. Anakin could tell she was nervous and needed to say something.

“Padme? Whatever it is, you can tell me.” Anakin said, trying to be as reassuring as possible.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly looked up and met Anakin’s eyes, “I’m pregnant.”

Anakin stared at her, the silence deathly calm as the words replayed in his head over and over again. He watched as Padme’s face dropped, the fear she was trying to hide was plainly there as she dropped her head when Anakin didn’t say anything.

“You don’t have to say anything, Anakin. I’ll go.” Padme said as she tried to run out of the house.

Anakin suddenly snapped out of his state of shock when he grabbed Padme by both her arms and pulled her towards him, stopping her retreat. Padme looked up at him in fear, but then her face quickly contorted to shock as Anakin fell to his knees.

“Marry me.” Anakin said.

“What?” Padme asked in shock.

“Padme Leia Solo, I fell in love with you the moment I saw you outside the club on that night. You are all I can think about and I have missed you every second you were in China. I would never turn you away, nor our child. Please. Marry me?” Anakin said as he placed one of his hands on her stomach.

Padme was crying as she brought both her hands over his on her stomach. She was speechless as she nodded her head, relieved that Anakin had accepted her and their child so willingly.

Anakin stood up and started kissing her in every spot he could reach. “You have made me the happiest man on this earth.”

He brushed her tears off her cheek and then told her to wait right there for a second while he went to get her something. Padme nodded her head as he released her face and ran up the stairs. She was leaning against the table to keep her balance as she heard Anakin come back with a small box.

Padme gasped as she looked down at the round sapphire that was encompassed by smaller diamonds. “It’s absolutely stunning.”

“It was my grandmothers, and now it’s yours. It’s perfect. Just like you.” Anakin said as he slid the ring on her third finger on her left hand. They held each other, long into the night when Anakin brought her up to his bedroom.

They made love all night as Anakin worshiped her body, praising her and thanking her for growing their child. In the morning, they were holding each other as the sun peaked through the bedroom window. To think a few months ago they were waking up like this, but in her bed.

“When can I make you mine?” Anakin asked as he kissed her nose.

“You are going to have to wait till my family comes back from China. My father will never forgive you if you deny him the opportunity to walk me down the aisle.” Padme giggled as she accepted the little kisses Anakin was placing all over her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for going on this amazing ride with me and for supporting these stories! It seriously means the world to me!
> 
> Special announcement: I have a BRAND NEW story that I will begin posting starting on Monday! It is not part of the Reylo-Mummy universe and I'm so excited to share it with you!


	19. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone that read and commented not only on this story, but on the entire series! It truly was so much fun to write and I'm glad that I finished it before I start my masters degree this week! 
> 
> There really are no words to express my gratitude for the love and support this AU has, so thank you from the bottom of my heart! 
> 
> P.S. BRAND NEW story will be posted starting tomorrow!

Anakin drove them up the long drive to the Solo estate. He was gripping the steering wheel as he followed the curve to the front door. Taking a deep breath, he parked the car and looked at the front door calculating in his head how many different ways he was possibly going to die tonight. After she had revealed she was pregnant, Anakin insisted that she move in with him. He wanted to be able to look out and provide for her while she finished up her last year of schooling. It was going to be difficult and a bit unconventional, but if they were together then nothing could stop them.

Padme placed a hand over his, “Are you okay?”

Anakin smiled, “Of course,” he squeaked out.

Padme placed her other hand on her stomach. She was about four months pregnant now and was starting to show with a little bump, “Don’t be nervous. My family will love you.”

They got out of the car and walked up the steps to the front door. Padme rung the door bell and waited for Maz to open it. She took Anakin’s hand in hers and squeezed it, when she looked up to see her father opening the door.

“Padme! My sweet girl. How are you?” Ben said as he leaned over to hug Padme. When he let go of Padme he looked up to see the man that she had fallen in love with, or more like impregnated his daughter.

Anakin gulped as he looked at the tall man before him. He had wavy dark hair with a hint of grey in the bangs. His eyes were dark as they honed in on Anakin. “Sir,” he said lowering his gaze.

“What’s your name?” Ben said a bit gruffly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Dad, this is…” but Padme never got to finish because she heard her mother walking to the door.

“Is that them? Oh, honey come on in! Don’t stand out there.” Rey said as she came over to hug Padme. Rey brought everyone into the sitting room where Alex and Lin were sitting. Padme walked over and hugged her brother and Lin, telling them how much she missed them when Rey said, “Dinner should be ready in a moment. Would you like anything to drink?”

Anakin shook his head no as Ben nursed a whiskey. Padme asked for a glass of water and Rey went to fetch it. Alex started chuckling as he took a sip of his own drink, “You’re gonna need some whiskey Anakin if you are gonna make it through this family dinner. Here, I’ll get you a drink.”

“Oh, so that is your name. What do you do, Anakin?” Ben asked trying not to sound passive aggressive.

“Ben, don’t be rude.” Rey chastised as she came back with a glass of water for Padme. It was very unlike Ben to behave this way. Well, I guess a different side of him shown when he was meeting the father of his unborn grandchild. Padme took the glass from her mother gratefully and sat down on the couch next to Lin.

“I’m an architect student at Oxford.” Anakin said, answering Ben’s question.

“A student? And how much longer do you have in your studies?” Ben asked.

“This is my last year, sir. I am doing an internship starting in January at a firm in London and then will graduate in the May. My hope is to be hired on after graduation.” Anakin said.

“London, that will be very far from my daughter and the baby. Or do you intend for Padme to drop out of school and move to London with you?” Ben asked as he finished off his glass of whiskey.

“Ben!” Rey chastised as Alex whistled hearing his father grill Anakin.

“Dad, Anakin is cool.” Alex said trying to vouch for his future brother-in-law as he gave Anakin a glass of whiskey.

“Rey, you want the answers to these questions too.” Ben said defensively. You could tell the rational part of his brain was slipping the more emotional he became. 

“I’m not dropping out of school, Dad. Anakin would never ask me to do that. We will raise our baby together and stay in Oxford. He is going to be staying in London during the week of his internship and then come home on the weekends” Padme explained.

“Well, looks like you two talked about it, but what are you going to do when the baby comes?” Rey asked as gently as she could. 

“Mum, I was hoping you and dad could babysit considering you are going back into retirement?” Padme said uncertainly.

“Who said we were going back into retirement?” Ben asked.

Rey smacked Ben on the arm, “I think we can go into retirement for a few more months to watch our grandchild.” She was clearly more excited about this then Ben was, “But you should know your father and I are getting back into the relics recovery business.”

“You are?” Lin asked from the couch.

“Yes, you see, Shanghai just ignited something in us that we missed. Something that was important to the role of Ben and I falling in love. And we want that excitement and danger back in our lives.” Rey explained.

Just then, Maz entered the parlor and announced that dinner was ready. Rey guided Alex, Lin, and Padme into the dining room while Ben said, “Anakin, just a moment. I want to speak to you, privately.”

Rey shot him a look that told him to behave while Ben rolled his eyes as everyone exited the sitting room. He turned and looked at Anakin, who still had not touched the whiskey in his hand.

Before Ben could speak, Anakin boldly said, “Mr. Solo, I understand that you might have a negative impression of the kind of man I am, but I assure you I have nothing but love and devotion to your daughter and to our child.”

Ben was speechless as he looked at Anakin. Taking his cue, Anakin continued the speech that he had prepared, “I fell in love with her the moment I met her, and when she told me she was pregnant, I proposed to her on the spot. Not just because I want to help protect her reputation. I know how hard she has had to work given her gender and chosen field, but also because I sincerely love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her. I promise you, I will do everything in my power to protect her, our child, and to love them both.”

Ben nodded his head, setting his glass down on the side table he came to stand directly in front of Anakin. It was almost comical how tall Ben was, making Anakin feel small and inadequate next to this mountain of a man. Ben held out his hand for Anakin to shake as he cleared his throat and said, “Welcome to the family, Anakin.”

Anakin shook his hand in acceptance and was led to the dining room. He downed his whiskey in one gulp and sat next to Padme. Ben took his spot at the head of the table, Rey at the foot, while Lin and Alex sat across from Anakin and Padme. They passed dishes around and engaged in small, family get to know you talk when Rey suddenly asked, “So, when is the wedding?”

Padme responded, “We were hoping to get married at the end of the month down by the river. Is that okay, Dad?”

“It should be a lovely ceremony sweetheart.” Ben replied.

“You couldn’t get married any sooner? Lin and I are thinking of going to Peru to visit Uncle Poe.” Alex said.

“Actually, my brother will be coming here for the wedding, so you will just have to wait, Alex. Besides, were you not going back to school?” Ben asked as he passed Alex the mashed potatoes.

“About that…” Alex said as he trailed off the conversation.

__________________________________

6 months later

Santine Elizabeth Amidala was born on February 2, 1947 to proud parents, Anakin and Padme Amidala in a general hospital in Oxford, England. She was seven pounds and 4 ounces with all ten of her fingers and toes.

Padme smiled as she held her daughter in her arms and watched her sleep. She had that adorable drunk on milk look as she quietly snoozed after her feeding. Anakin was also dozing in the chair next to the hospital bed, for he hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours. He was exhausted after Padme’s water broke the Saturday before, and undoubtedly he would have to drive back to London either tonight or sometime tomorrow for his work at the firm, but she was so lucky to have him as the father of her daughter and to have him as her husband.

She remembered their wedding. It was a small affair with just her parents, uncle, brother, and Lin down at the river just as she had told her Mum that night Anakin met the family. Being pregnant and trying to complete an engineering degree had many challenges and struggles, but her family was very supportive and helping her along the way. Now, her little flower was here and she could not wait to see what her daughter would do. No matter what, Santine would be loved and want for nothing.

Anakin was a devoted father and partner. Padme always wanted a romance like her parents, eternal and unconditional. Anakin delivered upon that dream. 

He started to rouse from his nap as he looked at the baby sleeping in his wife’s arms, “Hey, what is it?”

“I love you.” Padme said.

Anakin smiled and leaned over to kiss Padme on the cheek and then Santine on the forehead, “I love you, too.”

They held each other like that for some time, just lightly kissing each other and watching the baby sleep when a nurse came in to inform them, “Mrs. Amidala, your parents are here to see you.”

“Shall we let them in?” Padme asked Anakin.

“They will probably raise another mummy if we don’t let them see their grandchild.” Anakin said.

Padme chuckled and told the nurse she could send her parents in. It was time for them to meet the newest addition to the Solo crew. For who knew, she very well could be having her own adventures sometime in the future.


End file.
